Anywhere But Here
by bows and arrows
Summary: Miley had to spend the summer in New Jersey for her Mom's job. The only problem is, she's staying at a childhood enemy's house. It's been 9 years since she saw Nick Grey. Has he changed? She has no idea. But she's about to find out.  Niley
1. Chapter One

_Old story I made two years ago. Uploaded this in another account but this one's upgraded. I hope you like the few changes. The plot is still running that way though. I don't own anything but the plot. Yes, I used to be iloveyoudorkie. That account is still up but I don't use it anymore. Decided to comeback to FanFic and do what I love. Any violent reactions? No? Good.- - - Leave me a good review. ;) xx NILEY – Miley's POV._

_**Anywhere But Here**_

_Chapter One_

Summer time in California—the best time of the year, especially now that I've graduated high school and onto college. This should be the greatest summer of my entire life, before I enter Brown.. that is. But there isn't much to do in a small town like this. I'm in my usual place at home—sitting in my bed. I'm reading my favorite book, The Phantom of The Opera, for the Nth time. Everything was so relaxing until someone came knocking at my door.

"Come in!" I shouted flipping another page of the book.

"Miley..." she called out. It was my mom, Tish. She came in and I heard the door slam shut. Is she in a bad mood or what? I looked up at her; she was in her usual nurse's outfit, silk white pants and a top that has stupid designs. Her outfit is the first thing I notice when I look at her, but this time something seems different. She was smiling like there's no tomorrow; her cheek bones lifted up to her eyes.

"Hey Mom. What's up?" I asked suspicious, as I sat up knitting my eyebrows together.

"So.. I have this 'exam' or kind of like a 'training' to get this job promotion, in our branch in New Jersey. They'll be training slash examining slash observing me there for a month or two and after that, if I do great, I'll be getting the promotion!" she explained with her eyes wide open and facial expression; still smiling like there's no tomorrow. She wasn't exactly a nurse, she's a physical therapist in a clinic here in our town. Before she could continue, I felt like giving a feedback about it. _Wait, did she say New Jersey?_

"What kind of promotion, then?" I asked, closing the book and putting a bookmark to where I stopped.

"Well, if I pass, the clinic is going to send a recommendation of me to the Children's Hospital, to be a therapist for the kids. Which is so much easier than doing the old people.. not that I don't like them. It's just easier and the salary is twice as much I get in the clinic." I laughed when she said 'clinic' in a really high pitch.

"Well, that sounds awesome Mom. Congratulations." I said smiling and gave her a quick hug.

She puled away. "That's not the best part." she continued squealing like a fifteen year old in a boy band concert. I sighed, trying to keep that smile on my face.

"What is?" I replied, putting the book beside the lamp.

"Okay, so you remember Denise and her family?" she asked scooting a little bit closer to me.

"Yeah, Aunt Denise? What about her?" I knitted my eyebrows together again. Denise wasn't really my aunt. I just call her that because she's Mom's best friend since they met at work, long before I was born. I still remembered the Grey family. I usually stayed over them when I was a kid during spring break, they used to live a couple of towns away from us here. But that was like... about 9 years ago. We didn't exactly lose connection, my Mom send them Christmas cards, even Birthday cards. She sends them letters, Aunt Denise does the same. The Gray family only had one kid, Nick, the most stubborn obnoxious annoying boy I have ever known in my childhood. I've been trying to avoid him all these years to help myself from punching him in the face. I never really had good memories with them. But mom has, they were friends and all.

"They live in New Jersey now, right? Our company is just a town away from her house. So, since it's summer I was thinking if we could stay at her house until my training ends. They didn't mind because they wanted company.." the words that trailed off her mouth made my jaw drop and just stare at her. _What does she mean by we? I'm not coming with her, and stay in a house with the most evil kid on earth. _I remembered him teasing me. Oh the times I spent with Nick Grey... It was pure torture. We'll scream at each other, but mostly he'd do all the evil things, like.. tug on my pigtails, push me in the sandbox, steal my juice boxes, hit me with a ball on purpose, those kind of evil kids do to weak little girls like I was.

"N-no! You can't bring me with you. I'll just stay here with Dad. C'mon, Mom I don't want to spend summer there." I said swung my feet to the floor and stood up. I started pacing. Her smile faded and she became serious.

"Hey, your Dad told you, remember? He can't take care of you because he's going on tour with his friends until November. But I'm pretty sure he told you that already, right? And if you come with me you get to see New Jersey. How's that for a summer?" she explained looking at me as I paced even more. Did Dad tell me that? Damn it, I forgot. Oh my goodness. Dad is a composer, guitarist and a music director. But he isn't big time like the others, but it's enough to raise me eating 3 meals a day and having proper education. With him working all day and my mom all night, I still had parental guidance at all costs. Mom in the day, Dad in the night. I wondered if it was because I was the youngest in the family.

"Mom, but I'm 17, 18 in a couple of months! I'm going to college and live in a dorm, away from you guys! I'm not a kid anymore. I can take perfect care of myself. And Mom, have you forgotten? Nick isn't the most pleasing guy to be with." I reasoned out hopeful that she won't let me come with her.

"Dear, that was years ago. You've grown, he sure will be matured enough too. You won't have any more of that small fights-" before she could continue her speech I butt in. I stopped pacing, faced her and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Small? Small fights? He took off Beary's head off!" Beary is the stuffed animal I had since was three. I know that sounded childish but mom had to sew his head back again for three days. Yes, that was how evil that boy was.

"Then again, you were 5. Beary is still with you, I fixed him, right? So, can you please come? The job's really important and one of the reasons I want you to come is so that I could spend more time with you... before you go to college. C'mon, Miley... please?" she said standing up in front of me pouting . She brushed strands of hair out of my face and looked at me in the eye. I hate it when she does this to me. "Please baby? For me?" she continued pleading.

"Why do we even have to stay there? I mean, can't we rent a small apartment or something?"

"Renting an apartment for such a short amount of time, is really expensive. And they said they didn't mind, Denise wanted company. Paul (Aunt Denise's husband) is working out of town. And Denise can really be a big factor with my promotion since she's friends with one of the doctors."

I sighed putting my arms down. She was right again as usual. I'm still not sure what to answer but I have to make a decision already. "Okay. I'm going. For you." I said sighing again as I sat back down on my bed grabbing the book and placing it on my lap.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, honey! Don't you want to spend the summer with me?" she said giving me a quick hug, I giggled. "Now, you should start packing. We leave the next day." she continued as she left my room as quickly as she could.

That made me stare out of nowhere. The next day. It was stuck in my ear. Ugh. I lay down on my bed putting a pillow over my face and groaned.

That night over dinner, Dad went home. Mom talked about her 'almost promotion' with him nonstop, then went to work. The thought of staying to New Jersey away from my friends over the summer drowned me. Gee, I can't wait to see _him _again. But I have to look at the bright side, it's good for all of us. Work has been an important part of this family. Mom loved to take care of her patients, this promotion would make her happier with working with kids and all. She's been wanting to do this since forever. Mom talked about how she could've been a pediatrician but didn't have the money for a proper medical school. I have to be happy for mom, and I am. The only negative thing is, living with a boy who probably doesn't even want me there.

When got up to my room, I thought that I should tell my friends first before I'd go. So they won't think I'm rude for mysteriously missing out the plans we had since winter break. I opened my laptop and e-mailed every single one of my best friends, before I knew it, replies of my messages came flying to my inbox. You'd see most of them written like this:

_Miley,_

_You seriously cannot be leaving us. We have plans! You can't miss them! But if it's for your family and your mom... we'll let you go. Send us postcards or at least bring us souvenirs when you get back! It's only over the summer, right? You won't be leaving us that long anyways._

_Best of luck to your Mom! Have fun dear! Happy Summer!_

_Xoxo,_

_Lily. (:_

Lily, she's been my best friend since first grade. She's always there to support me, no matter what. Of course it's not only Lily who replied back, there was Oliver, Jake and Alex. I'm so going to be missing them. I replied back again to all my kind friends who messaged back as quickly as they could, trying to stop me from leaving. But they couldn't; I wish they could and not affect Mom's job at all. As I finished messaging all of them I flopped onto my bed and doze into a deep sleep.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The annoying sound of my alarm clock rang. I turned it off still half awake. The sunlight passed through my window and hit me in the eye. I pulled the covers up over my head and tried to go back to sleep when a thought popped up my head. I forgot to pack last night. I groaned and got up. My feet touched the cold patterned carpet and tickled me. I got into my bunny slippers from preventing for that to happen again.

I took out a few suitcases, stuffed everything from my entire closet in it, barely organizing. But I knew how to pack I just didn't bother even checking I have the right stuff. Before I knew it, I was done! I sighed in relief and my stomach grumbled. I ran downstairs, still in my pajamas, taking in the smell of toast and Pop-Tarts. Yes, Pop-Tarts.

"Done packing?" Mom asked while pouring coffee onto her mug.

"Yeah, I just finished." I nodded.

"Come and eat breakfast then." she gestured for me to sit and I do, next to Dad.

"Hey, Dad. No work today?" I asked taking a Pop-Tart from the plate.

"Nope." he answered looking up from his newspaper. I bit on the pastry.

"I kinda forgot about the tour." I shrugged, and Dad folding his newspaper. I knew what was coming.. and it's going to be long. He took a breath, so did I.

"Yes, well. We aren't bothered by you being alone here at home that much. Well your mother is, but I'm fine with it. You're all grown up, going to college. But your Mom just wants to spend the last few months of your non-college life with you. And.. Don't worry, it's going to be fun in NJ." he said smiling, taking a sip from his cup.

"I don't mind coming with Mom. I'd like to spend some time with her too." I nodded, smiling. I sucked the raspberry filling out of the pastry.

"I just can't believe it yet. My baby is off to college." she said, smiling sympathetically and wrapped her fingers around the green mug.

"She had issues like that with Trace and Brandi too." Dad nudged me with his elbow and we let out a small laugh.

"It's just college Mom. Soon enough, I'm going to get a job.. then get married, have a family... Mom, don't cry." I had to say when I noticed her eyes watering.

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it." she said, wiping the tears off her face and laughed. I smiled at the both of them. I was the youngest, and I was growing up. They loved me so much.

"How about we all eat out tonight? With Dad?" I suggested and held Mom's hand.

"That would be nice." she nodded and laughed her sadness out.

"I'm starting to think working with the kids is great for you, honey." Dad joked and we laughed.

"Oh shut it, Billy." she snapped but laughed along.

I turned the lights out and stared into the darkness. The dinner turned out to be fun. She didn't go to work tonight, she's sound asleep in her room, readying herself for the opportunity she has in New Jersey. I'm happy for her. If it means sacrificing a few out-of-town trips with my friends to make her happy, I'd do it. I have to admit I was still kind of nervous. Meeting them again for the first time after 9 long years. For me maybe it was nerve-wrecking.. but Mom is just as anxious but mostly excited. I guess I'll have to suck up the situations I'll be in when I'm with Nick. I'm just going to be perfectly matured about this. I'm going to leave him alone, and concentrate on what matters.. my Mom.

"Is that all you packed?" my Mom asked as Dad placed out suitcases inside the car.

"Yes. This is going to be a long trip, don't you think?" I replied and hopped into the car.

"Don't worry, you're going to love New Jersey."I heard Dad say outside with his comforting words. But no, it doesn't work. I'm still anxious.

"I sure hope so." I laughed it off.

* * *

><p><em>More Niley stuff in the next couple of chapters. Reviews please? Tell me what you really think? It would be appreciated. Thank you. (c)bows and arrows<em>


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: **_I'm crying. Oh my god. I can't believe you guys even remembered this story. I wish I had all my readers back and I hope you guys would like the few changes. I don't know why, but I felt silly when I was reading my old writing. LOL. Anyway, I love you guys for reading and reviewing. Thank you so much! Have a great week! Sorry short chapter! More Niley coming in the next chapter if you remember. ;)_

_Chapter 2_

The slams of the car door broke the silence. Mom and Dad got in the car.

"You ready dear?" Mom asked as she scooted in the front seat to be more comfortable.

"Ready as I'll ever be. This definitely going to be one heck of a summer." I answered as I stared at the blue sky out the window. I heard Mom and Dad whisper something to each other and someone sighed. I didn't even bother to know what whispered to each other. We were silent the entire trip to the airport, Dad kept keeping up a conversation about his tour. But I didn't bother to keep up, and thought about what to expect in New Jersey. Nick is probably going to college too. I haven't heard of him since.. well, Mom tried to tell me some stories but I couldn't care less. Why would I want to know what he's up to? I like his Mom.. I love his Mom and Uncle Paul. It's him that what's wrong in their family. He's going to be 18 in August, at least I knew one thing I was sure about.

Cars passed by swiftly as I we drove. Before I knew it the sight of a ton of tourists, foreign people and loads of suitcases caught my eye. We were already in the airport. Dad went on to the parking lot and pulled over.

"And here we are." I heard my Dad said getting off the car. I sighed as I got off. Cute foreign boys passed by me and I smiled.

"I love the airport." I mumbled to myself.

"Miley," my Dad called out I turned around and saw him unloading the suitcases off the trunk. "Help me with these please." he added and I nodded helping him out by grabbing my own suitcase. When Dad got out all of our bags he sighed and said, "This is as far as I can go, darlings."

I took him in my arms and hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you, Daddy." I said digging my face in his shirt.

"I'll call as much as I can." he said as he rubbed my back.

"But not too much." I warned.

"Not too much." he agreed. I pulled away and took a deep breath.

"Have fun at the tour Dad. And take care of yourself." I advised, smiling at him.

"Sure will, baby girl." he said as he slightly pinched my nose. I laughed and can't help but to hug him again like a 6 year old.

"I love you." I whispered.

"Love you too." he chuckled.

We and our bags had to go through a detecting machine and then finally headed inside the Departure Area. I felt the cold breeze from the Air-Conditioner of the airport. This is actually only my second time inside an airport. The first was when I was 8, we flew to Texas because my Dad wanted to meet up with one of his clients and he took us with him. Texas wasn't all desert, farms, horses and cowboys and tumbleweeds like in the movies, I happen to like Texas, even if I stayed there for only 5 days. We don't fly much, since we just drive with one of his friend's RV when we want to go out of town. We also don't stay out longer than two weeks. So, I'm not really familiar with what's what. All I know are the different lights flashing from a board with schedules in it is where you know where your flight will depart.

I read the words flashing from it. _'Destination: Princeton, New Jersey - leaves in exactly 1030'_.

_Princeton. Where the rich people get even richer. _Or at least, that's what I heard. I finally remembered where they were currently living. All I know about is that town is roughly equidistant between New York and Philadelphia. I've only heard of New York but never actually had the chance to go there, and I've always wanted to go there. We sent our bags to the plane and kept a few with us. I sat on an empty chair next to my mom waiting for the flight.

"We leave in two hours." she said, patting my thigh. I simply nodded and sighed at the same time. I decided to listen to my iPod.

My Mom and I went on to this big tube—tunnel that lead us inside the plane. We loaded the bags in a bunk over our heads, surely after the plane was all set up, there was a lady in front presenting the safety measures in case of any accidents.

We weren't allowed to open any gadgets during the first few minutes in the air, the silence was freaking me out. When they said it was okay already I stuck my earphones in and turned up the volume. The flight wasn't that long. Okay, maybe it was. Hours of flight then a stop over, surely, already halfway across the country. Then, went on to New Jersey.

I hadn't spoken a word to my mom the whole flight. She doesn't seem to mind, she was probably trying to relax. And I was still listening to the songs in my iPod. We had lunch, a few snacks and when it got too boring, I tried to get some sleep. Don't wanna look like a restless hobo in front of the Greys, do we?

I woke up, a little dizzy and looked outside the window, it's already dark. I didn't bother looking at my watch, I was too stunned to see what was below me... city lights. They're like stars only you see them below. I wondered what city this is.

Half an hour later, a lady's voice caught all the passengers attention.

"_We will be landing in a few minutes. Standing positions are not allowed. Please take your seats and buckle up. Thank you." _The voice said. Immediately, the passengers followed her instructions.

We landed smoothly and safely on the ground. Another voice broke the silence of the plane.

"_We are now in New Jersey. Thank you for flying with us. Happy weekend." _it said.

Everyone shuffled out the plane grabbing their bags from their bunks and talking simultaneously. We got off the plane and headed inside the airport to get our suitcases. Mom finally talked.

"So, what do you think of the flight?" she questioned trying to catch my attention while waiting for our suitcases. I managed a smile and nodded.

"It was good, mostly boring, but good. I loved the view though." I said as I tapped my toes onto the floor. I heard a small beep coming from my earphones. I slid out the silver gadget out of my pocket. Low Battery. It read. I removed the earphones and kept it inside an outer pocket of my sling bag. Finally, the bags we were looking for came out from inside a rotating machine. Mom and I grabbed our respective suitcases and walked out to the main building—where people are fetched from a flight.

Mom took out her phone and texted someone. Maybe it was dad or Denise. Either way, she was in a hurry texting, her thumbs pressing the buttons as quickly as she could. We walked out the building and I finally breathed New Jersey's fresh air. It wasn't different, just a tad colder. I don't know what I am feeling right now. I'm a bit excited for the adventures in a new place, a new inspiration to write about.. and nervous for meeting Aunt Denise and Nick again.. those feelings at the same time. I'm in the east side of America, I traveled across the country for my Mom and probably get annoyed more than usual under one roof with her and the boy who stuffed a grasshopper down my shirt. But I couldn't get the thought out of my head that Nick could.. change. He might actually be a gentleman now, or rather just a plain nice kid. But I won't get my hopes up.

Mom called out a cab coming from a long line of yellow cars. We got in a cab and my mom instructed the driver where to go. We entered a village, with a guard house and asked for an identification. I didn't catch what it's called, but I remember Mom talking about it. I just didn't take a memo. That's where the Grey's live. The guards let us in with the approval of Denise Grey. I stared out the window and saw different looking houses—mansions, huge mansions. Its pretty quiet here. But I'd describe this place, relaxing. Kind of high class. Our house isn't the nicest if you want me to describe it. We lived in a simple two story house, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small basement and a garage big enough for two cars to fit. Now that Trace and Brandi moved out of the house, I get one room to myself, one for my parents and the other, is kind of a guest room. These houses were amazing, I loved the front yards. It took time for the driver to find the house but he did, eventually.

The car came to a stop, the drive didn't take too long from the airport to their house. It only took us about 20 minutes. Their house is as big as the other houses. All the lights were opened, their front yard is like an eden, which was very lovely and the house is antique looking; very different from the houses in my neighborhood.

We got out the cab and mom paid the driver. Right now, I'm praying to God to give me a clue to what our introduction would be like.

"Honey, are you ready?" Mom asked strolling her suitcase to their door.

"Now or never." I nodded as I followed. I stood far behind my Mom so, I wouldn't be easily noticed—I don't want to be. I sighed again, this time nervously. Mom rang the door bell. My heart suddenly bet faster than normal. A few seconds passed, we heard footsteps. The door opened and a tall curly boy answered.

"Hey. Aunt Tish! How was the flight?" the boy said as he smiled sweetly giving my mom a small hug.

"Good evening Nick. And it was good." Mom answered as she pulled away. I stiffened a little bit when Mom mentioned the name Nick. Nick, he was Nick. He was wearing a gray long sleeved shirt which is rolled up just below his elbow, and had the most charming smile. No way this is Nick Grey.

"Hold on.." he said as he turned a little to the right. "..uh Mom! They're here!" he called out. I heard footsteps coming and a curly haired woman stood next to..Nick and smiled.

"Oh, hi Tish. I missed you. Oh my god." she said giving mom a big hug. Mom pulled away and laughed as she motioned me to come closer to her. I walked awkwardly closer to her trying to fake a smile. I tried to keep my cool.

"Oh and you remember Miley, right?" she said as she wrapped one arm around me.

"Hi." I said as convincingly happy as I could. But it sounded crappy. I looked at Nick to see what his expression would be. He was smirking and I could tell by his eyes that he was also surprised.

"Oh you got so big already! How could I forget this beautiful angel?" she said laughing as she gave me a hug. Of course I hugged back then pulled away. "How are you? You're going to be in college already too, right?"

"I'm good and yes I am, like Nick. I'm going to Brown." I answered politely as I smiled.

"Oh that's great honey. Who knew, huh? They grow up so fast." she told Mom as she held my cheek. Suddenly, I heard a chuckle. I looked at Nick and he obviously was trying to hide a laugh but he can't.

"I'm sorry, Miley? _The_ Miley." he asked, surprised. Denise cleared her throat; trying to excuse Nick's rudeness.

"This is what I was afraid of." I whispered to my mom and she gave me a look. "Uhm, yeah. Hey, Nick. Been long since.." I continued, answering his sarcastic question.

"Yeah.. wow." he said as he nodded. My mom squeezed my arm harder, with a nervous laugh. _Awkward silence._

"So, uh, come in." she finally offered as she opened the door a little wider so we can come in. Nick stepped out and offered to take our luggages with him.

"I'll take these." Nick said.

"Why thank you, Nick." my Mom replied as he gripped on the suitcase's handle. He faced me, shot me a look and waited for me to give him my suitcase.

"No, it's okay. I can.." I reasoned out but he cut me off and reached for my bags.

"No, I insist." he said, smiling. I smiled back, giving him my thanks. Well, this was a better encounter than what I expected. But still.. it doesn't prove anything, yet.

Me and my mom both walked in. Their house is gorgeous—hotel like. Soft orange lights in every corner. Their house smelled like lavenders. The living room was wide and spacious, with white couches, home décors, a plasma television hangs on the wall, a wooden piano sits on the far corner of the room near another doorway that probably leads to the kitchen. And it was pleasing, quite welcoming. I saw Nick carrying the bags upstairs. Denise was whispering to my Mom and they both smiled. I tried to be nice and make a rather good impression.

"Thanks for letting us stay Aunt Denise. Your house looks amazing, better than the one back in California." I said as I held on to my sling bag, soaking in their house.

"You still remember what that old house looked like? And, it's no problem at all. Did you guys had dinner?" she asked, as she put and arm around me and squeezed my biceps. I shook my head. "Well, perfect. I was just preparing dinner. But first, I think you guys should see your rooms." she continued, Mom and I smiled.

We went up the stairs, Nick seemed to disappear, he's probably in his room. There revealed a long hallway with four brown wooden doors and one sliding door straight ahead. One door was at the end of the hallway, the doors on both side are placed alternately, not facing each other, just... almost.

"Okay, so the last door is the door to the balcony. The balcony is pretty wide, you guys can relax there anytime you want." she explained smiling. "The left side of the hallway is our rooms. The first door on the left is the Master's Bedroom. The second one is Nick's, near the balcony." I prayed to God that my room wasn't anywhere near the balcony.

"So, uh, we have two guest rooms." she continued. "There is actually one more upstairs, but it's much smaller and it doesn't have a bathroom. So Tish, yours would be in the first door on the right and Miley, yours would be the second. You both have your own bathrooms." That is awesome, huh? Except the fact that I am near the balcony.

"Oh, thats great. Thanks." I said trying not to sound sarcastic and headed down to my new room.

"So, I think I'll leave you guys first to get settled in and I'll prepare the table." she said as she left us in the hall. The hallway has picture frames hanging on both sides, I looked at them. Photography. By Nick Grey... by Nick. One had a picture of a dog running around a backyard, one with an empty playground with a swing seat lifted in the air, and one with a guy sitting in front of the window pane of his bedroom, playing the guitar. And then it hit me. It was Nick, he was beautiful, his features, being highlighted by the sunlight, and certain parts of his face, hidden in the darkness. It was black and white, the photograph was beautiful, it looked amazing. I didn't know Nick could be this.. artistic, poetic even.

Mom walked closer to me. "See? Told you Nick wouldn't stay like the obnoxious boy you knew. These are pretty darn good too, huh?" she said scanning the walls of the hallway for more photos.

"Yes, oh my god. These are.. so amazing." I answered, still breathless by these pictures.

"Thanks. They're a bit blurry though." a voice said from behind me. I turned and saw Nick, smiling, looking down at me. We stood there for a moment.

"No. It's perfect. They're amazing, Nicholas." Mom exclaimed and patted Nick's shoulder. He gave her a simple nod and a polite grin. "So, um, I'll go get settled in." she continued in a soft voice and entered her guest room.

"Me too." I said as I walked to the guest room trying to avoid Nick's gaze.

"Miley.. wait." he called, walking behind me. I took a deep breath.

**More of Author's Note: **_Really short. I apologize. Niley coming up next! :D Reviews please? Did you like how it upgraded? Thank you once again! Much love! © bows and arrows._


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: **_{ "What most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in women is something masculine." - Susan Sontag } Yes, well, I totally agree with this. Obviously I find it attractive when a guy has something sensitive in his personality. Anyway, I quote because this and the next chapter KINDA has a connection with it. So, anyway.. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS. I LOVE YOU! More Niley! Short though. But I promise chapter 4 & 5 would be sooo much longer. ;)_

_Chapter Three_

"Yeah?" was all I could say. I faced him and he looking at me, suspicious. _What does he want?_

"Nothing.. I just wanted to know if you're really Miley." he answered with a grin on his face. My eyes narrowed with his obviously pathetic statement. But I gave him a nod.

"Well, yeah, uh.. I am. Hi." I said faking a smile.

"Huh.. you changed... a lot." he was looking at me from head to toe, finally back to my eyes. "Didn't even recognize you when you were standing behind your Mom." he let out a light laugh, thinking it was funny. It wasn't, really.

"Very funny. Ha." I tried to get along, gritting my teeth as I speak.

"It's just, you changed so much. Who knew 9 years can make a great difference with height, hair, teeth..." He looked at every part as he spoke and then looked below my face, his eyes widening. "..boobs." He continued. I scoffed. "Oh, and you're growing a mustache, it's starting to show." he said while squinting his eyes and leaned forward. I wanted to slap him. I did it.. mentally. I covered my upper lip and glared at him.

"Well then, the famous Nick Grey hasn't changed at all, has he? Still the same stuck up boy who shoved almost anything you can pick up with your hands down the back of my shirt." I snapped and dropped my hand.

"You remember the time I shoved in a grasshopper? Classic." he chuckled, throwing his head back. I glared at him even more and he stopped. I turned my back from him and walked to my assigned room, I started to turn the doorknob, it was stuck. I turned it harder and pushed, it wouldn't budge. I groaned and placed my forehead on the wooden door.

"You can't get in, can you?" Nick chuckled behind me.

"No, I'm just hanging here, you know, randomly placing my forehead against this door is kinda fun. You should try it, really." I snapped. Then I felt him beside me and there was a thud on the door.

"It's rather painful, kinda boring too." I looked at him, and saw him in the same position I'm in. We both laughed. I leaned against the door and sighed, so did he. He stuck his hand in his pocket and I heard jiggling. He pulled out a key and handed them to me. I smiled.

"I keep the keys." he said.

"Of the entire house?" I questioned.

"No."

"Oh."

"Just.. your room." my eyes widened.

"Why?" I asked.

"It _used_ to be my music room. It's now on the third floor though." he said placing his arms over his chest.

"You have a bathroom in your music room?"

"You don't wanna know what I do in there." he shrugged.

"Gross." I made a face and stuck the key in. I twisted the doorknob and it opened.

"Your bags are in there." he said before I could shut the door behind me. I opened it wider and looked right at him, smiling.

"Thanks." I said. There was something about Nick I couldn't put my finger on, but there was something about him. And it makes me want to look at him more. I smiled at him and closed the door. I turned and soaked in the view of my room—for the rest of the summer—as I turned on the lights. It was awesome. Cream painted walls, brown rugged floor and a doubles bed with beige covers. I grinned when I saw my own small closet with a built in mirror. I feel special, for this kind of preparation. This wasn't my room, but I felt comfortable. There was a window above the head of my bed and had white satin drapes over it. I saw my suitcases lined up against the wall. I flopped onto the bed, removing my sling bag and shoes. I breathed in the smell of my new temporary room. I should get used to this, to make sleeping easier. I closed my eyes and felt the comforters against my skin. But I remembered something.

I got up and slid my phone out my pocket. No messages? Maybe everyone thought I was still on the flight. I shook my head. A_ll that traveling is tiring. _I decided to take a shower. I took out a white towel from my suitcase and headed to the bathroom.

The bathroom is gorgeous. Ahh, the rich people. I stepped inside a small glass room. It was the shower. I turned it on and the soft splashes of water coming from the shower made me feel better. The water was warm, relaxing. I started to scrub down my body, getting rid of the sweat I've produced during the 10 hour flight. I sighed to myself and just let the drops touch my body.

I heard the guest room door open. Maybe it was Mom so I didn't bother checking. Mom doesn't really knock and she just enters my room and try not to eavesdrop, but she does, sometimes. I rarely get privacy from my Mom. She just feels the need to look at me at some point when she haven't seen my for a while. I pulled the towel off and wiped it on my damp body then wrapped it around me. I walked out the bathroom and saw Nick standing next to my bed not facing me.

"What are you doing here?" I shouted, surprised as I held on to my towel tighter. He turned around and backed-up a little.

"Oh my god. I didn't mean to. I didn't think you'd be done, so quick." I could see it, he was trying not to stare.

"I will repeat my question, what are you doing here?" my hair was still dripping.

"I just wanted to give this back." he held up my iPod.

"Why's that with you?" I hurried, asking him

"My mom found it on the floor, you.. must've dropped it." he placed it on the bed.

"Okay. Just leave it there, you may get out now. Go."

"Oh, right. Okay." he started to leave while patting his pocket, he was almost at the door when he came back and placed the earphones on the bed. "These too."

"Hurry!" I couldn't wait any longer and pointed at the door.

"Right. Sorry." he said hurrying to the door and left. I sighed and walked to the door. I placed my ear against the door, checking on him. I heard him whispering loudly to himself, cursing.

"Move along, Nick. Move along." I said against the door. I laughed on the inside. _That was too close._

I changed as soon and as quickly as possible. Then brushed my hair as I blow dried it. I sighed to myself and checked my phone. _5 messages. _Finally, people are starting to worry. I opened my inbox and the same suspects messaged me. Lily, my other friends and Dad. I smiled to myself as I read their messages.

_From: Lily_

_Miles, wer r u ryt now? R u already in NJ? :(_

I replied as soon as I could.

_To: Lily_

_Yes, I am. But we're abt 2 hav dinner. Call me in a few so we cud talk._

I pressed send and after a few minutes she replied.

_From: Lily_

_Oh, okay. Miss u already! :(_

I placed my phone on the nightstand and sighed once again. I sprayed a little perfume on my neck then walked outside my room for dinner. But I think it would be good checking out the view from the balcony first. Maybe they wouldn't mind me exploring a little. So, I slid the door aside to the balcony. I didn't notice him from the inside but there he was, looking out in the open. He turned and smiled.

"Hey." he started. It was hard to see his face with only a small amount of light from a street lamp placed on the wall.

"Hi." I replied.

"Fully clothed." he noticed. _That's very observant of you, Nick. Congratulations._

"You know the word 'knock'?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes actually. I don't seem to use it very often." he said smirking.

"You may have to, from now on." I leaned against the sliding door.

"Right." he cleared his throat. "You drop a lot of things around?"

"No. Not often but most of the time.. I think, do you?" I let out a small laugh.

"I don't drop. I fall. But not as much, only on special occasions." he shrugged.

"How clumsy." I laughed.

"You have no idea." he sighed. Something was suspicious about what he said, but my mind got off it when I felt my stomach rumble.

"Well. Maybe check out the view when it's a bit brighter. Wanna help out for dinner?" I started to step inside.

"I'll catch up." he said, putting his hand in the air awkwardly then drops it. I slid the door close. I started to realize Nick wasn't as bad as I expected him to be. He's grown up. Got to his senses. Still a bit sly though. I better watch my back. I turn my head and see him through the dark tinted glass door, falling to his knees.

**More of Author's Note:** _Oh my god, what happened to Nick? GASP. I found the first part of the chapter adorable. ;) Sorry it's kind of cliffy. And short. I just kind of ran out of ideas. But the next chapter has even more Niley! Reviews will make my day. Have a great weekend! © bows and arrows. _


	4. Chapter Four

**Author's Note:**_ It's my birthday today, May 3rd! I'm turning 15! :D Any birthday greeting there? HAHA. Anyway, here is where some Niley stuff happens. Miley would try to figure out what just happened to Nick. But I'll explain sooner or later why that just happened. Kay, stop with the babbling now. Enjoy this long (kinda) chapter. ;) Thank you for the reviews!_

_Chapter Four_

I ran back outside, panicking. He has his fingers on his temples and he was gripping onto the railings as I knelt beside him. The rush of the wind ran through my hair as I reached for his arms.

"Nick. Oh my god, what's wrong?" I said, my face full with worry.

"N-Nothing... just give me a moment." his was grunting, breathing deeply and his eyes are shut tight. He's in so much pain.

"What happened?" I helped him sit on the tiled floor. He exhaled, then gasped for air, shaking his head a little. I caressed his back.

"My head is just throbbing, really bad. Ugh. Oh my god." grunting again, I started to really panic.

"I'll go get your mom." I said, standing up. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down.

"No. Miley, don't. I'm okay." he whispered loudly and blinked his eyes hard.

"Hell. You don't look okay." I whispered back and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Just, don't tell Mom. Please." he pleaded his eyes still tightly shut. He rested his head against the railings, the pain is slowly fading because his face was starting to relax.

"You could've died." I exclaimed, and I still wanted to go get his Mom.

"It's just... a headache. A really bad one. I won't die, Miley." he let out a long breath and finally open his eyes. He breathed deeply trying to relax. "God."

"Jesus, Nick. But still.. you could've." I exhaled. I felt like I've been holding my breath the whole time. "Are you okay now? You sure you don't want me to get your Aunt D?"

"No, no need. I'm fine. And.. Yeah, a little better." he nodded, and looked down at our hands. He was still holding it tightly, after a moment he released it.

"Is that the kind of falling you do? Because, that was crazy." I tried to lighten up the situation, to calm ourselves.

"Most of it." he laughed a little. I drew my hand back from his shoulder and sat next to him. I didn't want to leave him yet. He might have another fit.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, still concerned.

"Yes, Miley. I'm fine. Just a little tired." he rested his head against my shoulder, I didn't mind. It felt nice having someone lean against your shoulder. And if something like that happened to me, I would probably need comforting like this.

"Why did that happen?" I asked in a low voice and tucked my knees in, wrapping my arms around them. I saw the lonely moon above us. The night sky was beautiful, except the fact that ten seconds ago he was in so much pain.

"Overdose, maybe." he said.

"Overdose? Of what?" I looked at him, surprised. _What was he taking? Does his Mom know? What the fuck?_

"Nothing. I'm fine. Never mind what I said." he replied.

_That was not something to be ignored. He was taking something. Something was wrong, I could feel it_. I looked at Nick breathe and I gave him a confused look, trying to figure out why or how that just happened. We heard the door slide and we saw my Mom. Nick pulled his head away from my shoulder and casually crossed his arms over his chest then held his chin. We both stiffened from her suspicious stare.

"Oh hey, guys." she greeted with a smile.

"We're just talking, Mom." I said.

"That's.. good. So, uh, Miley can I speak to you for just a bit?" she said as she motioned for me to come with her. I took a glance at Nick, then back to Mom.

"Sure." I said, as I gave Nick a pat on the thigh and stood up. My mom closed the door behind her.

"What was that?" she started.

"We were just talking."

"Looked more than that." she shot me a look, I sighed.

"Mom.. we were just, catching up." I shrugged.

"Okay. Why were you on the floor?"

"Oh, uh, I tripped." I'm a terrible liar.

"What? On a balcony?" she didn't buy it, I tried to shake off the idea. I wanted to check on Nick again. Maybe I should really tell. That could've been something serious.

"Yeah. But I'm fine." I glanced at the glass door, Nick wasn't sitting anymore, he leaned over the rails and was staring out to the village like nothing happened.

"Huh. Now, why won't we go and help Denise with dinner?"

"I was about to offer that to Nick when you came out." I lied.

"Has he been nice?"

"Oh, yeah. Kinda." I nodded. _Well, he did compliment me about my hair and my boobs. Kind of._

"Kinda?" she gave me a look.

"Yes. He's nice. Mom, we grew up. I think he's grown into his senses."

"Told you."

We go down but mom had to pee so I continued to climb down stairs, and go to the kitchen where I saw Denise, preparing dinner in their huge hotel-like kitchen. Everything is clean and organized. White lights, beige painted walls with vintage patterns on the lower part of it, a shinny wooden cupboard above the sink, the oven with a stove, and a dishwasher. A long wooden counter was on the center of everything in that room, that's where she does all the cutting, slicing and mixing. A huge refrigerator on the east side of the long cabinet. Everything in that room described this family that they're definitely wealthy.

"Whoa. Awesome place you got here, Aunt Denise. This room is beautiful, and it's only the kitchen." I told her. She laughed as she wiped her hands on her white apron.

"Thank you Miley. I try my best keeping this place clean." she said as she looked around a little. "This is one of my favorite parts in the house. Number one would be the balcony, have you seen it?"

"Yes, I did. But then, Mom called me so I'll try to see it tomorrow."

"So, Brown huh? That's really good. What made you choose Brown?"

"I love to write. And read a lot. So, I decided I want to learn more about it so, I chose Brown. And the cool thing is that I got in."

"Oh that's wonderful."

"How about Nick?" I got curious.

"Oh, he's still thinking about it. You know how boys can be about college." _As usual._

"Right. So, what can I do to help?" I asked politely.

"Well, thanks for offering dear. The plates, can you set them up? The table is all set, except that. And I'm just finishing these beans up." she instructed sweetly.

"Easy peasy." I said and smiled, she laughed.

"Oh I missed you dear. It's been a long time since a girl came inside this house." _Are there even any other girls? Does Nick take some girls home?_ I shook the thought away and smiled at her.

"Missed you too Aunt D." I replied as I nodded. I took a pile of white plates and walked through a door and found out it was the way to the backyard. My eyebrows knit together. Okay? Where's the dining room?

"The other door, over here sweetheart." I heard Denise say with a sizzling sound in the background. She's cooking something. The view of their backyard caught my eyes. It was beautiful, the grass was cut neatly, there's a small fountain by the bushes, and there's a wooden swing, it looked sort of like a bench but it doesn't have any legs and it's swinging two feet above the ground. and it was facing the moon tonight. The swing was old, dull but I find it beautiful. I remembered I was lifting a pile of heavy plates. I walked back inside with a small smile, Denise seemed to notice as she looked at me, I feel like she's laughing inside.

"Right. Thanks." I went through another door, finally, the dining room.

The dining room is elegant, like a four star restaurant. Classy, very classy. In here, you could see a way to the living room, a way to their back porch, also is a part of the back yard, and a way to reach the front door. The table was shorter than I expected, a rectangular shape with a total of six seats around it. There's a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling the lighting is soothing, soft orange and white. I took a deep breath, vanilla, my favorite. There were already napkins on the table and a beautiful flowers on a vase at the middle. I placed the white plates on each seat and returned the extra ones in the kitchen.

Dinner. Aunt D made chicken breasts, with white beans and a sauce that tastes amazing. And we have a vegetable salad as a side dish. We've been talking about why Mr. Grey isn't home since he'll be working for a few months in Toronto. He's a lawyer, and Denise is a therapist too, like Mom... only, she's richer. She owns a few clinics with a few other branches around NJ. So, Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise met back in their college, took time to finish their majors and then came back to each other's arms after they passed. They got married, lived in our town in California for a couple of months and they made Nick. After a few years, Nick was 8 when they moved here, in New Jersey, which is Paul's hometown. Awesome story, huh? My parent's struggles are a lot harder than Nick's parents. I mean, Mom and Dad weren't rich when they met each other, they had to work their butts off just to make Trace and Brandi live with full stomachs and smiles on their faces. Lucky when I was born they already worked everything out to make my life much more satisfying. I have to thank Trace, Brandy, Mom and Dad for that. We also talked about Trace that now works with his band and they have recordings and a tour around the country. He took me to one recording studio once, and I have to admit they sound awesome. Brandi on the other hand is on tour with one of Daddy's friends, and they used to write songs together.

Nick was quiet the whole conversation, I don't know if he's worried I'd tell them what happened earlier. He was avoiding my gaze too. I wanted to tell him his secret was safe but obviously, I couldn't.

"So how do you like the first few hours of staying?" I looked up and saw all of their faces waiting for me to answer even Nick looked eager to know.

"Oh, I love it here. Very welcoming. And the food is amazing." I said as I locked my eyes to Nick. His lips broke into a small smile but his eyes was darted back on his food. I got annoyed with it, he wasn't speaking at all. Like, nothing happened earlier.

"That's great, we've been really trying to get a first good impression. Right, Nick?" she shoots Nick a look and he simply nodded.

It's 10:46 pm on the clock that's sitting on the nightstand. Lights out and I'm lying on my back on my _new _bed. Everything's new. I thought I would get used to this in a snap, but no, it doesn't really happen that easy. I sigh as I look around the dark room. A little moonlight shines through the window above my bed, it's the only thing that gives light in this room. I have to admit the thought of going back to Cali came to my mind a couple of times... do all the plans me and my friends made, stay up late as I can, get drunk even if I'm not allowed to yet, laugh my lungs out with Lily and Alex, spend some quality time with Dad, I wanted to go back so bad. As much as I wanted it though, there's something stopping me. Like a sense of adventure, a new experience that might be interesting..thrilling maybe. We traveled a lot, but only for a short time and then go back home and do normal things again. Now.. I'm staying for an entire two months. A lot could happen in two months. I just wish those will be the good ones.

After dinner, we didn't speak a word to each other except 'good night' plus an awkward smile. He was strangely quiet, I wanna know why, I want to know every little bit that going through his mind. I decided to write my day down, not for a diary, just a random few thoughts. I do it all the time whenever I feel like speaking my mind. I took out my usual hardbound notebook and a pen. I started to scribble down a few statements.

_10 hour flight. I miss dad. And friends. I want to have fun already. So tired. I hate plane rides... it makes me sick. In Princeton New Jersey. They're rich. Won't deny that I kinda missed them. Mom is completely excited, I could still hear her talking to Aunt D downstairs and her laughs. She's so happy. I should be too. Nick is strange. Not what I expected, he's nicer than I thought. Beautiful photographs hanging on the wall. A weird spazz attack. He leaned on my shoulder. I wanted to talk to him yet he was silent over dinner. Weird. Different. New. Change. Fuck the first 3 and a half hours. A lot happened. Now, two months? What the hell do you think might happen then?_

I put the pen down and closed the notebook. I hopped into bed. I closed my eyes and try to get to sleep. It doesn't work. I stare up the ceiling and think about Dad. How is he back there? Is he thinking about me too? I took a deep breath and let it all out slowly. _Okay.. close your eyes again, Miley._ I turn to my side and I fall asleep.

I woke up, and look at the at the clock and it's only 6. I stretch and pull the covers up to my head and try to go back to sleep. But my body is telling me to get up and go for a run. I sit up, I am feeling restful today, I wanted to go for a jog. So, I throw the covers of my legs, stand up beside the bed and fix it. I do a little stretching and hop in the shower, the drops of the warm water forms tingles around my body, I liked it. I didn't shower, shower. I just wanted to get the bed numbness out of my body and then I'll go shower after I jog. I rubbed myself dry with a towel and step out of the bathroom, gargled some water and spit out the sink, I opened my luggage and took a sports bra, a tank top and mini shorts. I pop my Nike sneakers, pull my hair back, leaving my bangs on my face and brush them off neatly to a side. I step out of the room and saw Nick just opened his door. He wasn't wearing any shirt on, only a blue cotton shorts that reaches the top of his knees. I felt a little awkward wearing these kind of shorts, after he saw me with only a towel wrapped around my body.

"Morning." I say awkwardly.

"Why are you up this early?" he said with his eyes narrowed as always and he rubs one of them with his hand.

"For a jog. I do it. Back at home. Why are you?" I said as stand on my heels, then my toes, making me rock back and forth.

"Heard your _really_ loud footsteps. Can I come with?" he asked and shook his hair with his fingers.

"Well first, that was a really _great_ morning greeting." I said sarcastically and he smiled. "But sure, if you want to, I mean if you don't want to then I'll just.. go, ahead." I said, answering his question.

"I'll come. You know, so we could talk more." I looked up at him, surprised. "It's just.. I'll go get some new clothes on." he said as he disappears back to his room.

"Make it quick." I said as I put a couple of strands of hair behind my ear. Before I knew it, he's back out again in a new pair of navy blue shorts, a white V-neck shirt, and a pair of sneakers. He smells like mouthwash, I think he gargled a mouthful real quick and come back out here. I shake my head and walked on first down the stairs to the front door. It's locked. I turned to look at Nick.

"Oh, right." he took out the keys from his left pocket and opened the door. He opened it widely so I could go out first, and I gladly take his offer and step out of the house first. The air was still cool, the sun was shining but it's not as hot like in Beverly Hills. The ground is a bit moist but it seems to dry up quickly since it's summer. I ran as soon as I was on the sidewalk, then I just noticed, this place is beautiful. Grass everywhere, clear air, trees and bushes, gardens, yards, everything green. Nick was already beside me when we reached the next house.

"Hey." he greeted, his hair bouncing with him as he jogs. I awkwardly put on a smile but I focused on the way where we're jogging.

"Hi." I replied.

"So, do you jog everyday?" he said, panting. We're already on the next block. I'm running already, not jogging and he follows.

"Not really. My body tells me when I want to or not." I was already panting, my thighs are starting to throb when we reach the next few blocks. We didn't say anything after that and passed a couple more blocks. I hear Nick chuckle and I looked back at him."What?"

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"Excellent question, Nicholas. But I have a tour guide right beside me, haven't I?"

"Touché." he answered as he laughed. "You're quite a talker aren't you?"

"Oh, you know, I do a lot of chit chats with friends in school. Do you do this often? Jog?"

"Quite. I'm on the baseball team." he answered.

"Huh, sporty."

"Thanks." he replied, catching his breath.

"A lot of things changed. Don't you think?" I realized as we jogged on the streets.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't even think you could jog." he gave me a look and laughed.

"Ouch, hurtful. Well if I may say, I made it into the girls volleyball varsity team." I raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. He didn't seem to buy it and held his head back with this really annoying look.

"Made? That's in past tense." he said, as he knitted his brows together.

"Yeah, well.. they kicked me out." I shrugged.

"Why?" he chuckled.

"Because I suck." I gave him a sly smile.

"No surprise." I nudged him with my elbow and we both laughed. "Then why did they let you on the team anyway?"

"Long story."

"Hey, we have all morning and an entire village to run around in." he spread his arms out and then dropped them. I gave him a look, so did he. I gave up.

"Fine. I was great during training. But when my first game was on, I got too anxious and barfed on the floor. Sent a teammate sliding down, and we lost. Did I mention she broke her ankle?"

"Yikes. That's not usually how a person gets kicked out of a team."

"Yeah well, I'm pretty unusual."

Our conversation didn't last long, we ran around after that in silence. Taking in the fresh air, the summer sun and the features on Nick's backside. He offered to go before me so we wouldn't get lost. I agreed to follow him and can't help but stare at his body structure. He jogged smoothly, like he's been doing it forever. Drops of sweat shined from the back of his arms and neck. His arms weren't soggy and limp and thin, it was just right, not to muscular. His shirt was soaked in sweat, revealing the arcs of his back. I wanted him to strip off the shirt and stop teasing me. Only he wasn't, I just wanted him to. He looked back to check and see if I was still following, I'd look down so he wouldn't notice I was staring.

He stopped in an empty playground, it took me a few more seconds than usual to realize this was the old metal swing set in his photos. It looked like an ordinary children's playground from my point of view right now, but in the photograph, it looked more serene.

"Why are we here?" I asked, putting my hands on my waist and continued to walk next to Nick.

"To rest, aren't you tired?"

"Just a tad." I answered panting, taking in deep breaths and walked slowly around so that I won't get dizzy. I get dizzy when I sit down. I am dripping with sweat and so is Nick. He stripped off his shirt and wiped it across his face. I couldn't help but stare. Nick's small abs shines in the morning light as he sits down in one of the swing seat.

"So, this is the place."

"Place what?"

"The swing in one of your photos."

"You noticed."

"Yeah. Cool." I sat next to him in one of the swings.

"All it takes is a really expensive camera."

"That's a lie."

"But, the camera is still one of the greatest factor of a good photograph."

"Not if the place means something to you, or to the person who'll look at it."

"Why thank you Miey, for enlightening me with that thought." he said sarcastically.

"A pleasure to enlighten you Nick, especially if it makes me sound even smarter." he laughed with that statement. The cool morning breeze pierces through my sweaty body. I shiver a little getting goosebumps in my arms. I laughed, remembering the times when Nick was just the worst jerk ever. He looked at me as if I'm mad. "Did you know you were my worst nightmare?"

"No. I was?"

"Yeah. You were the most obnoxious annoying selfish pathetic jerk I've ever known."

"Ouch."

"You were. Really." I nodded at him

"And you were the most annoyingly cute kid I've ever known, with really weak eye-hand coordination, maybe even eye-feet coordination." he laughed looking into the playground. I noticed something odd about that insult.

"Wait, what?"

"You were." he glanced at me than back to gazing at the empty slides.

"You said 'annoyingly cute'." I knitted my eyebrows together.

"Yeah. Well, you know how kids are." he shrugged.

"You teased me every day during spring break." I poked his arm.

"Well, I apologize. You're just fun to tease then." he looked at me and grinned.

"You took Beary's head off... with your _bare_ hands." I remembered and pointed at him.

"It sat on my sandcastle." he reasoned out, narrowing his eyes.

"He wanted to be King! And it's not like it made any difference, your sandcastle sucked." I raised an eyebrow and giggled.

"No it did not." he defended, his eyebrows are now tightly knitted together across his forehead out of disbelief. It made me laugh that he'd defend that stupid castle.

"Yes it absolutely did." I snapped. We both look at each other for a moment and laughed.

"I wasn't exactly _always_ the mean one. You drank all my juice boxes." he started.

"You ate all my cookies." I said back, laughing. I tried to keep my fake glare and pout, but it doesn't work. I laugh.

"You blew on my house of cards. Which took me _2 hours_ to finish."

"You tugged on my pigtails. Which I made myself for the first time _ever._"

"You spilled paint all over my church pants. I got into so much trouble for that."

"You pushed me on a puddle and it soiled my dress."

"You cried then." he laughed. I couldn't help giggling and smiling the entire conversation.

"You made my spring break miserable." I said, shaking my head.

"And you made mine really funny." he chuckled and nodded.

"I hate you." I gave him a fake glare and burst out laughing.

"Hate you right back." he laughs with me and pinches my nose. He's been doing that forever, I kinda missed it.

"What's the matter with you." I giggled as I tapped it away and pinched his nose harder.

"Ow, hey!" he chuckled, taking my hand off of it. I try to grab it again but he grabs my wrists and stops me. We burst out laughing.

He has a sense of humor I didn't even know about. We talked like it was something we've done for years, when really we've been avoiding each other to avoid a fight. I know him as the worst kid I've ever met, now that label could be erased out of my head. I feel comfortable around him, maybe at first I wasn't, but after that forehead on the door incident, it's like we're best friends. But I don't want to push myself to Nick. We've had our downs, and it was a lot. Maybe this summer, we'll be having more of the ups.

"C'mon, let's go back." he offered, folding his shirt.

"Can we walk this time?" I asked sweetly, the words almost came out as a whisper. He looked at me for a second, confused or happy, whatever it was.. he liked the idea.

"Sure." he answered as we both stood up, smiling.

**Author's Note: **_Okay, I suck at making these fast. Not much drama, soon there will be. I had to tell that, just to keep your heads up. So, yeah. This is kind of a fluff. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. :) Has anybody watched Miley's Gypsy Heart Tour performances? Wish me luck in getting a ticket, and if you're good at negotiating.. please talk my mom into buying me one, and actually let me go to the concert? :) Yeah, thanks. Reviews please! Have a great weekend everyone! © bows and arrows._


	5. Chapter Five

**Author's Note: **_Oh my god, I am so sorry I updated for more than a week, i'll try not to next time. My mom confiscated my laptop so I'm sorry again. But I thank you guys for all the reviews. I loved every single one of them. ;) And well, I will not be going to the concert. But, I guess I could live with it.. I shall see Miley someday. Right now I'm just going to make fanfiction of her. HAHA. Anyway, I am officially 15 and I saw Beastly a few days ago! so yes, I'm late. But I have to say, I was sooo disappointed because everything happened to fast, details were cut and not much romantic happened. But, Alex Pettyfer is just so smoking hot. I love him. The book version was much better though. Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews and the birthday greetings. Long chapter. I hope you enjoy though! I just finished writing chapter 7 and a LOT of Niley action will happen.. like steamy ones. ;)_

_Chapter Five_

I found out the the playground was just a couple of blocks away from their house, it seemed like a long way when we got there but only because Nick decided to make a few detours to make the jog longer. We saw a couple of people picking up their newspapers outside their house, a few people rushing to their cars, probably going to work, and a couple of old people sweeping up their front yards. But besides that, we were alone. I liked it. It's very peaceful. The only thing you can hear is our footsteps and our breathing. A thought flashed in my head. I imagined me and Nick holding hands, walking on this very sidewalk. I pushed the thought away. _What's wrong with you Miley? It's too soon to think about that, why are you even thinking about it? Pull yourself together._

"You have brother and a sister, right?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. You remember Trace and Brandi. They're older. They moved out when I was 12."

"Why?"

"To work. Trace has a tour, so does Brandi. Trace is the lead in his band, and Brandi's the guitarist in hers."

"Were you guys close?"

"With, Brandi, I am. Not much with Trace though. I mean, I love him, it's just that, I never get boys. Even my friends. He watched out for me though, but we never opened that much to each other."

"He must've cared for you, a lot."

"I never really felt it from him. But you think he did?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's a guy thing."

"Which I will never learn." I snapped and nodded to myself.

"Sounds like you never had boyfriend before." he gave me smug look and I stopped to stare at him.

"What makes you think I haven't had a boyfriend before?" I asked with my eyes narrowed. _Did I mention he is still shirtless? It's quite distracting in a very pleasurable way. Weird._

"The way you don't understand guys, you think our species is some sort of space alien." he smiled and it was the sweetest thing I've seen and I tried to refrain from smiling back. _He looked gorgeous, agh, screw this._

"That boyfriend thing is not a very reliable theory." I laughed as I continued to walk, he catches up with me and walks by my side.

"Well, have you?" he raised his eyebrow at me. I sighed.

"No. Not officially." I finally said, looking back at the road avoiding his gaze.

"Not officially?" he asked. He was persuasive, I shot him a look yet again.

"Why are you even asking these questions?" I slapped his chest with the back of my hand. He chuckled and shrugged.

"Just making a conversation." he replied.

"Have you, though?" I decided to turn the question back to him.

"Have I what?" he asked stupidly.

"Oh come on, Nick. Have you ever had a girlfriend?" I blurt out.

"No, no, wait. I asked you first. Why 'not officially'?" he pushed.

"I'll answer that question if you answer mine." I made a deal.

"No fair, I asked you first." he defended.

"Life isn't fair, buddy. Just answer. Yes or No?" I pushed him this time.

"Yes." he finally answered.

"What happened?" I asked, not being entirely content with just a yes. I wanted to know more about this.

"Nu-uh. You answer my question first, _then_ I answer that." he reminded me.

"Fine.." I took a deep breath. _Man, Nick is pushy._ "Not officially. I've dated someone for a few months, but it turned into a wreck. I was never really in love with him. I didn't consider him as a boyfriend." I shrugged, he stared at me. Maybe he thought I was sad, I wasn't. "He wasn't worth being upset about." Why was he even interested in this? My relationships were boring. It took a while before he answered the question, I gave him a look. "Well? ..Your turn."

"Oh right.." he scratched the back of his neck. Well, I wouldn't say that I _loved _her. All she did was make-out with me and then one day, I found out she was cheating." his voice was soft, almost sad.

"That's terrible." I shook my head in disbelief.

"She cheated on me with a guy on my baseball team." he sighed, staring into the road.

"What? No way." I asked getting more interested.

"Didn't surprise me. If I must say, she was quite a.. well for the lack of better word, whore." I laughed and he nodded. "That was two years ago. Got over it quicker than I thought. She wasn't worth it anyway." he shook then looked at me.

"Why did you date her then?" I asked.

"Because she's hot."

"Well that answered my question perfectly." I said sarcastically as I scoffed and started cracking up.

"How did yours turn into a wreck? What kind of wreck?" _Oh, nothing much, he just wanted to have sex with me at his friend's house. I declined and he kicked me out of his car. Good thing I was just 25 blocks away from home._ As much as I wanted to tell Nick the truth, getting into the details isn't important. And it's just too embarrassing.

"Life." I answered, shrugging like I was contented with my answer. I wasn't.

"What?" his eyebrows were knitted together again.

"Life. How life just happens and things turn bad. It was just a wreck, like any other relationships out there." I said quietly hoping he wouldn't look into it. And maybe Nick sensed something bad about this topic because he stopped questioning after that. We reached their block in no time and Nick opened the door for us. "I'll go get cleaned up. Thanks for coming with me." I told him.

"I wouldn't want our guest to be lost. And it was fun. Best jog of my life." he said smiling down at me. I let out a small laugh and headed upstairs inside my room. _Mine too._

After taking a long clean shower, I brushed my teeth and changed into a dry pair of denim shorts, and a Beatles shirt, hoping he'd like it too. My mom and Denise were already awake, I heard them rushing around their rooms getting ready for work. I checked my phone and gave my friends back home a text. _I forgot to call Lily last night. Damn it._ Since it's not likely she's already awake. I decided to go down to help out for breakfast. I went down, Nick isn't finished cleaning up, he's not yet down here. I started to walk to the kitchen, when the back porch caught my eyes. The sun is shining through the glass doors, making me feel relaxed. The sight outside seemed so serene. I slid the glass doors open and there revealed their backyard. The back porch has it's own patio table and a couple of small chairs. There was a staircase on the left side of the porch that will lead you down to the yard. I walked down, sucking in the fresh cool air. The flowers were neatly cut and arranged on the sides. And the swing set was sitting there, swinging a little with the wind. I smiled and walked to it, observing the features. It was like a bench with no legs and is hanging from a bar. It was long enough for three people to sit in. I sat down and it started swinging. I put my hands on my lap, leaned back and closed my eyes.

I know it can be embarrassing living with other people especially if you haven't seen them in like seven years, but me and my mom are doing it for ourselves. And I like the fact that they're very welcoming here. I should at least give something back to them, they've been lovely. I sighed and put my head down and slowly opened my eyes, I saw two Nike shoes in front of me. I looked up, it was Nick. A small smile formed on my lips. He looks concerned.

"Hi. What are you doing out here? Cool shirt." _Yes, he noticed._

"Nothing, just.. thinking. And yeah, thanks." I looked down at my shirt and smiled.

"Oh. Well, you came to the right place." He sat beside me; with a small distance to keep me separated from him. "This is a good thinking place." he said as he spread his arms in front of us, referring to the backyard. I let out a small laugh. "You hungry?"

"I can survive." I said and gave him a nod. He chuckled and looked down.

"So, what time are they going to work again?"

"They need to be there by 8:30. So, they should leave by 8. What time is it?"

He raised his left arm and looked into his empty wrist. "A quarter to breakfast."

"Seriously." I laughed as I put his arm down, out of his face.

"There's a wall clock inside. And let's eat while you're reading the time. I'm starving."

"Alright, let's go." I stood up and offered my hand to him. He took it and stood up. I started to walk back to house when he stopped me.

"Hey, wait. You wanna go somewhere, today? I could show you around Princeton." This was the closest we've ever been, he was inches apart from me. I looked down. I felt my stomach drop and my cheeks burn. I didn't want him to think I was all shy around him, so I kept my cool and looked up at him. I made a face, and narrowed my eyes. I took my chin with my free hand and scratched it like I was having a hard time deciding.

"Let me think about it." I said and he chuckled.

"Plus, Princeton has the best ice cream in New Jersey." he smiled sweetly that was really contagious. It made me smile too. He gave me a look, almost pleading with his brown eyes. And I just couldn't say no to people who gives me that look.

"Okay, but after mom leaves. Or before lunch."

"Deal." he chuckles. I let go of his hand and walked back to house, with him following behind me. I didn't look back, I just walked right to the kitchen. I don't want to make things feel awkward. We're friends. He's been nothing but (kind of) nice to me since we got here.

We got into their gorgeous kitchen and I tapped my hands on the counter. "So, what are we having for breakfast Chef Grey. Are you any good like your mom?" I teased.

"Total opposite. But I can cook for myself, I'm not a kid." he snapped and leaned over the counter.

"Sounds like a challenge. Show me what you got then Nicholas." I sat on a stool in front of the counter and he started opening the cupboards.

"Ew, don't call me that." he said as he searched inside the wooden cabinets.

"It is your real name. And what comes after that? Oh right, Jerry. Hey Jerry." I placed my elbows on the counter and held my face, watching him as I laughed. I couldn't see his face—what his reaction was, but he didn't sound annoyed. Maybe just a little.

"Miley.." he called, as if trying to stop me. He opened the fridge and searched more.

"Yes, Jerry?" I answered giggling. He turned to me and held two eggs and a pack of bacon.

"Eggs and bacon?" he asked putting them up.

"Eggs and bacon it is." I nodded, smiling.

"Think fast." he said as he threw one of the eggs, I quickly caught it, still surprised from the flying egg.

"Hey! That was too close. Pull something like that again, I—" he threw again another one and I caught it, trying not to break it with my hands as I hold it. I glared at Nick.

"Not bad for someone who used to drop a big red ball when tossed right in front of her." he crossed his arms over his chest and nodded like he was satisfied.

"Just go cook." I placed the eggs in the table and he took out a small bowl and a few plates.

"Alright. You go put these on the toaster." He tossed me a box of Pop-Tarts.

"I love these things." I opened the box and took out the pastries from their silver packages. Nick gave me a plate and I placed them in it.

"Yeah, you used to stole mine when we were little." he said chuckling as he cracked the eggs.

"You did not deserve these yummy delicious toaster pastries." I reasoned out.

"But who got their first cavities at the age of 6?" he said as he placed one hand in the back of his ear. He was being mean.

"I did." I murmured and faked a pout.

"Exactly." he nodded and whisked the eggs. I stood up and brought the plate of Pop-Tarts near the toaster. I plugged the toaster and popped two of them in. I heard the stove fire up and a pan being placed on top of it. I watched Nick cook. It was amazing to look at because he wasn't messy at all. Maybe his Mom taught him a little something. Nick decided to make breakfast for our Moms too and I set up the table. I took out a carton of orange juice and started the coffee maker. I happen to like coffee so I knew how these babies work. We heard them go down the stairs as we were about to finish. They were already dressed up for work. They admired our preparation and ate with us. They wondered why we were up so early. We told them about the jog and Nick asked permission to my mom if he could take me out.. to see Princeton.

"Of course you can. Just try home early." he stared down at Nick and I felt my blood rush in my cheeks.

"No problem, Aunt Tish. I'll keep her safe." Nick smiled at mom and glanced at me. I gave him a small smile.

I greeted my Mom good luck and gave her a kiss on the cheek as they puled out of the driveway. As soon as their car left, Nick grabbed his keys and I grabbed my purse bag. We got into their garage and there revealed his gorgeous black mustang. It had white stripes in the front and just had that new car sparkle.

"This is awesome. When did you get this car?" I asked as I locked my gaze on the car, lowering down my sunglasses to see it better.

"Last August. For my 17th birthday." he said putting on his sunglasses.

"Wow." I pushed my glasses back up as I walked in front of the front seat door.

"Can you drive?" he asked as he walked to me.

"Yeah." I answered unsure where he is going with that question.

"Driver's license?" he walked closer.

"In my wallet." I said.

"Here." he threw me his keys. "Drive." he said as he pushed me to the driver's seat's door.

"What? No! I can't drive." I stopped myself and faced him.

"You just said you can." he raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, I mean yes I can drive ." he shot me a look. I sighed. "I don't know where to go." I reasoned out hoping it would work. It's not that I don't want to drive this car. I want to drive this thing but ruining someone's car is the least I would want to do.

"Then I'll show you." he grinned as he walks to the other side of the car. I ringed the keys first and then stuck it into the key hole; opening both of our doors.

"Are you sure about this?" I said as I stuck the key in and held on to the stirring wheel.

"Yeah." he nodded as he buckled up.

"What if I crash this thing?" I said, and locked the seatbelt on.

"You'll be fine, Miley." he said and I nodded. I turn the key and the engine roared to life, I can't help but to smile at myself. We pulled out of the driveway and drove away. After a while he started pointing at some directions showing me where to go.

"Turn left, here." he instructed as he pointed out to the road.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. I'm not really sure what are we going to do since this isn't really planned. But I turned left anyway, and saw trees looking down at us. It was a park.

"Canoing." he answered.

"Canoing?" my eyes narrowed.

"Canoing." he nodded.

"You have canoes here?" I laughed in between the statement.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Okay then." I sighed and focused on the road again. It was around 9 am and cars were already busy on the road. It was summer and everyone was free to do anything. Of course the road would be packed. As I turned we saw the 'nature park' Nick was talking about. There were canoes in there. As I parked we took a walk along a rocky sidewalk. The trees were green and the sunlight was passing through the branches and leaves, a sight I always loved. The grass were tall and clean and everything was quiet. Everything about this morning was peaceful. We reached the lake and we rented a canoe. No one really asked or even cared anyway since we lived far from the beaches in Cali, but I was afraid of deep waters. A well, a deep pool, and the sea.. especially the sea. I never wanted to experience drowning ever again. I know how to swim, a few strokes, how to float, but when I know it's really deep.. I panic. But I tried to keep my cool because we were on a canoe, still dry, only on top of the water, not in it.

"So, Princeton. Have you noticed that you guys are like.. elite?" I said as I placed the paddle over my lap. We reached the center of the lake and the sun was blocked by all the trees giving us a nice cool shade.

"We are not elite." he snapped, chuckling.

"Okay then, let's review. A mansion, two cars, a music room, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, an attic AND a basement, a super awesome backyard, hot tub.."

"You saw the hot tub outside?" he asked, I nodded but continued.

"..5 star kitchen, your mom has six clinics.. Should I continue?"

"That doesn't make us elite." he shook his head.

"Fine then. Really rich." I shrugged.

"Mom and Dad's hard work, I guess. But I never did took advantage of them or the money. They kind of raised me that way. So, from a small town in California.. how is it back there? I kinda miss it." he said as he took off his sunglasses.

"Really? Well, it's still the same. Small, ordinary, simple living. You remember the small park outside of town? Well, it got renovated. But they kept that little fountain we—I used to make wishes to."

"Oh yeah, that old thing. It must be great back there. I should talk mom into visiting sometime."

"That's a great idea. But.. how about college, though? Any idea where to go?" I narrowed my eyes studying his face.

"Well, nothing at the moment. But I have some choices. So.. Brown, huh?" he placed the paddle beside him.

"Yeah. It's amazing."

"Why Brown?" he looked at me, really looked at me and waited for my answer.

"Because.. I love literature. And writing is like a passion." I said with a smile, admiring how great writers are.

"Your parents were okay with it? Living millions of miles away from them? Following your dreams? They didn't push you to something else?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No. They didn't. They were happy whatever I'd take. And I am perfectly capable of living in a dorm by myself." I gave him a look and he let out a small laugh. "I just.. want to do great things, you know. And I could only do that if I love what I'm doing." I exhaled then gave him a small smile.

"What do you think I should take then?"

"Well, you should ask yourself that. What do you love doing?" I said and he sighed looking down at his shoes. Then he looked back up at me.

"I won't admit it to some people.." he looked around, as if someone was listening to us. I laughed. "But.. Music. Singing. Performing." he answered. I smiled.

"Yeah?"

"It's what I do most of the time. I used to be in musicals in middle school, but never did it in High School." he admitted as he chuckled.

"Really? Any interesting parts you got?" I laughed with him, imagining Nick in grade school on stage.

"I got a part of a prince once, and a tree in another. I've lead in one musical in 8th grade." he told me.

"A tree." I laughed. "That must've been fun. And you must be good then." I nodded. He gave me a polite shrug.

"Well, we have a band."

"What kind of band? A band you mean like a school band with clarinets, flutes, tubas and.." I trailed off.

"No, god no. nothing like that. A band I mean, guitars, drums, piano and more electric guitars." he explained as he chuckled.

"Must be fun practicing in your pretty big music room. What else do you play besides the guitar?" I said as I stretched my arms and put my hands on my knees, getting interested with his music abilities.

"Oh, just the drums, guitar, the piano, I can do bass. Sometimes, I write a few songs." he said with a small smile on his face as he raised his eyebrows. I was pretty impressed and giggled.

"Impressive." I nodded.

"Why thank you." he said with a small bow.

"The pleasure is all mine." I grinned. He laughed.

"How about you? Any good in writing?" he leaned and placed his elbows on his thighs.

"I'm good. But, I don't let anyone read it though. I just.. keep it to myself." I explained.

"Must be full of secrets." he whispered loudly, I giggled.

"You'll learn some of them eventually." I said as I gave him a smug look. We laughed a little.

"Can't wait then." he replied and we were silent for a moment. I heard a few birds chirp and the wind blow. "I actually got accepted in NYU, for performing arts. Not the theater kind.. more on, music. " he said, breaking the silence. I was happy for him, it sounded great. Especially for him.

"What? That's great! You shou-" he cut me off.

"Mom and Dad don't know." he said.

"What?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together.

"I couldn't tell them." he shook his head.

"What? Why not?" he just shrugged and gave me a sad look and I sighed. "I still think you should tell them. It's NYU. You got accepted. That's a good—no, great opportunity." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe I will." He shrugged again.

"You shouldn't let that go. You'll be great at it." I nodded at him and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I wish that's what Dad would think too." he sighed and forced a small smile. He was sad. He had issues about his college, and I know it isn't easy to fight for the college you want but your parents don't like; especially in Nick's case. They expect so much from him. But I think they should just give him a chance, if he fights for it. I tried to lighten up the mood and changed the subject.

"So how many songs have you written?" I asked with a big smile, that made him chuckle.

"I have a notebook full of it." he answered.

"I should hear at least one of those." I offered.

"You'll hear them eventually." he said, mimicking me from earlier. I laughed.

"And the photography?"

"For extra credit during senior year."

"Really?"

"Yup. Then, I just started to get creative and take a few more for myself."

"And you love it."

"Only because chicks dig it." he winked at me, I laughed.

It felt good knowing Nick better. We got off the canoe after a few circling around the lake. It made me dizzy but we laughed so hard after a few misdirections of the canoe. We didn't paddle as good as we thought we kept counting to three and try to by synchronized again. We got off the canoe and walked around the park. We sat on a bench under a shade of a tree. The day wasn't as hot as it should be now in California, there was a cool breeze instead, but the sun is still shining.

"It's really nice in here. Do you come here often?"

"Not as much as I used to. It was a lot more beautiful a couple of years back. But it still has it's deep-in-the-woods feeling." he said. I laid down on the bench, pacing my head on Nick's leg and look up in the sky. I let out a giggle remembering the stuff I used to do. "What?" he asked.

"I used to do this when I was in grade school, just lay on the grass in out backyard, in the morning, and watch the clouds move. I'd remember the shapes and I'll draw them in my sketch book. I always wanted to know how a cloud feels like, if I touch it. And I'll read outside and lay in the hammock."

"It's so blue isn't it?" He looked up the sky with me.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"And the trees are so green." he said and I looked around, it was beautiful. We have that in common, a different eye when it came to something beautiful.

"This would look lovely in a photo." I said as I thought about his photography skills.

"Some things just can't be captured in a camera." he shrugged and look down at me. I laughed.

"That sounded so cliché." I looked back at the clouds but still observing Nick in the corner of my eye. He smiled, that looked so genuine I couldn't help but look back at him.

"Yeah, I think I got that off a movie or something." We laughed.

We drove to this ice cream place Nick kept talking about. The place was packed, maybe because it was summer or this place was just that popular. I parked the car just in front of the store. We entered and it smelled great. Nick suggested to order for the both of us since I don't really know their ice cream here. I sat on one of the tables and waited for Nick to comeback. He was on the line for about five minutes then came back with two large Ice Cream sundaes on both of his hands. He placed a cup in front of me.

"God, Nick. These are.. huge." I said as I took a taste of the whipped cream with my finger.

"And delicious. Go ahead, dig in." he said as he took his spoon and dug it into the ice cream. I stare at it for a few seconds, and took the spoon. I took a bite and it tasted too sweet, it tasted like.. ice cream. I felt my head go numb. "Ow, brain freeze. This. Is. Cold."

He laughed and ate another spoonful of ice cream. "This cup of deliciousness is worth every pain of the brain freeze."

"So.. are you, planning to have a summer job or something?" I asked as I took another spoon of ice cream.

"I don't know. I just want to enjoy the summer. Try not to stress out about college."

"You'll make up your mind eventually." I said and we let out a small laugh.

"Hope so too." he said as he leaned back on his chair and looked outside. He waved at someone and motioned that person to come in here. I looked out saw this blond guy with brown roots, tall, green eyes, in short, he was handsome.

"Who's that?" I asked politely as I could, mashing the sundae.

"Liam. A friend."

"He's a handsome fellow." I admitted as I raised my eyebrows at Nick. He gave me a look.

"There are a lot of handsome fellows here. You're looking at one." he sounded sarcastic so I scoffed.

"Get over yourself." I threw a ball of tissue paper at him. He made a face that made me burst out laughing. He chuckled and stood up as soon as he saw Liam get in.

"Hey, man." he greeted as they clapped their hands with each other, doing a really pathetic boy-like handshake. I laughed on the inside.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Liam asked, obviously he didn't notice me yet.

"Just taking a friend out Princeton. She's new." Nick said as he put his hands toward me.

"Hello." I greeted Liam as I lifted the cup of ice cream. "Ice cream?"

"Hi." he said as he nodded.

"Liam, Miley. Miley, Liam." he introduced us to each other. "She's the girl I told you about. The one who's staying at the house for the summer." he added and Liam gave him a confused look.

"Oh right, the girl." he nodded and leaned closer to Nick's ear. "But I thought you said.. but she's gorgeous, man." I heard him mumble to Nick. He made a face at Liam and smiled nervously when I caught his eye. I gave him a look. He looked right back at Liam and let out a fake laugh.

"Funny, Liam. Just so funny. That was a great joke." Nick nodded at the both of us and I gave him a fake smile. "Let's not talk about the things I said, okay?" his voice was low, but sure as hell I can hear him. Liam nodded and changed the topic.

"So, my folks are out of town so I am having a party tomorrow night to celebrate the official welcome for summer. You guys wanna come? Miley, you can come if you want." he grinned.

"Yeah sure, but only if Nick comes. I can't really go out by myself since I'm new so.." I nodded and shrugged.

"What are you guys, an item or something?" he chuckled.

"No." we both said, scoffing. We glanced at each other, then at Liam.

"But yeah sure, I—we'll come." he nodded as he sighed.

"Cool. Party starts at 6. See you then." he said as he patted Nick's arm and walked off to a couple of other guys. Nick sat back down.

"So, how's the ice cream?" he asked grinning, maybe hoping that I'd forget what Liam said.

"Pretty good, until I heard that you told Liam.. some stuff. But obviously, he opposed that statement of yours. Which was what?" I shrugged as I gave him a sly smile. He laughed.

"I told him you had really _huge_ frizzy hair and only had one tooth." he said with a mouthful of vanilla ice cream. I threw him another ball of tissue paper.

"You're gay." I teased.

"Now that's just mean." he pointed at me as he swallowed.

"I learned from the best." I shrugged and took another spoonful off the mound of mushy cream from my cup.

"Me." he nodded.

"Okay then, now that you know Liam totally declined your description of me.. what do you think.. about.. me now.. then?" I shyly asked as I leaned over the table.

**Author's Note:** _Okay, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, and I just had to go into the details so you'd know how everything works and looks like. ;) Everything seemed cliché and boring, I know. :| But don't worry, in the next couple of chapter I'll try to make the story faster. It's only the fifth chapter though. Thank you so much for the reviews again! Review some more? Oh, and what's your favorite ice cream flavor? I like strawberry or chocolate chip. :D I promise to update soon. © bows and arrows ._


	6. Chapter Six

**Author's Note: **_Check out my new story? :D Thank you again for reviews! Tell your friends and share this story! I hope everyone is happy and safe, especially after the zombie apocalypse thing that got around a few days ago. HAHA. Anyway, my laptop is dead. I spilled coffee all over it last night, good thing I saved my fanfics in a Flash Drive. :P But besides that, my files and photos and videos and movies and music and everything.. is all gone. :( Stupid me. Kay, rant over. Enjoy this chapter!_

_Chapter Six_

I knew he was going to be surprised by my question. It was some sort of challenge to him. Would he lie? tell the truth? fool me? I smiled waiting for his answer and looked up at him. I could sense he was trying to find the right words to say.

"Well, let me start off with the obvious..." he trailed off, I nodded like I'm really interested. "It's like you had a head transplant. Your hair is obviously not as frizzy like it was a few years ago. All your baby fat is gone. You've grown a mustache. And you can finally fit into a bra." I looked down on my chest and gave him a glare. He chuckled.

"I hate you." I said and shook my head, holding back a smile. I knew it was meant for a joke, I was used to his insult-compliments so I acted like I was just going to ignore that statement and eat my ice cream. I took another napkin and formed it into a ball, I threw it right at Nick's face. I'm running out of tissue, I should use the spoon next time. He smiled and leaned on the table, his face a foot away from mine. I looked down on my cup.

"But, besides all those, I think you're funny and outgoing." I looked up at him and smiled. "You have a great sense of humor and I thought there will be a lot of bickering when you come here. But no, you managed to not be annoying." he said as he shrugged. I leaned back on my chair and nodded.

"Thank you." I said sarcastically. "Except you know, for the first and last part of your description. You really think I have a mustache?" I said as I touched my upper lip. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, just a little." he chuckled and I made a face at him. "Your turn. Describe me." he said as he leaned back in his chair and ate another spoonful of ice cream. I eyed him from head to his torso, thinking of a comeback like on of his insult-compliments.

"Hmm. Well you've grown into your ears, and your smile haven't changed at all.. it's still annoying. I'm glad your mullet is gone, that was the second worst thing about you when you were 7. Your eyes are still so small I can't tell if you're awake or asleep." we both laughed, since it's all very true.

"But?" he waited. I took a deep breath.

"But.. I think you're very artistic and very straight forward. I like your sense of humor and you're not what I expected to be when I'd see you here too. Which is very surprising after all the things you've done to me."

"I blame my mom for turning me into the man I am now."

"Yes, well, she did a great job." I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'm glad we're getting along."

"I'm glad too."

We've been laughing the whole day, which is just crazy. My stomach started to hurt so I suggested, no more jokes. Maybe it was hard to avoid because Nick came up a joke with anything he saw or we talked about, which is good, he wasn't boring to be with. We drove around town and he showed me the mall, the park, his school, the church, the town's library (I told him we should go there sometime and check out a couple of books.), a few other ice cream parlors, a few diners and a music store. We had lunch around 12 in a diner outside of town. I drove almost the entire morning but I got him to drive after lunch anyway so it'd be less hard to go around and show me the town. It was already 4 in the afternoon and we decided to come back home since it has been such a long day.

Nick stopped the car when it reached the garage. We unbuckled our seat belts and caught each others eyes. We smiled. "Thanks for showing me around. I had fun."

"Me too." he replied. I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. I pulled away and smiled.

"I'll go rest now." I said as I opened the car door and stepped out out of the car.

_First day, and we're good friends. He's completely change. Still a little mischievous though, in a good way. Jogged in the morning. Saw him shirtless. Never mind that. Asked me the weirdest question. Boyfriends. Dating. GET THAT GUY OUT OF YOUR HEAD. Nick made breakfast. Eggs and Bacon and Pop-Tarts. Held my hand in the garden. Saw Princeton today. I had fun. Canoing, then talked about college. He had a problem. Best ice cream ever. No not a date. He complimented me. I'm starting to like him. I should stop. It's weird. Must pull myself together. He's amazing. I want to hear him play. Party at gorgeous Liam's house tomorrow night. Be ready. ONE KISS ON THE CHEEK. I should try to resist his contagious smile. I hate it. Screw this._

Another page of my notebook was filled with the scribbled statements. I decided to call Dad. He wasn't answering, he's probably at work. So I called Lily instead. Voice mail.

"_Hey, it's Lily. I'm at grandma's house, can't talk until the next day. Leave a message._" it said and a beep came afterward.

"Lils. It's Miley. Call me when you're free. I need to tell you something. Miss you." I said over the phone and hung up. I changed into a new pair of shorts and a top. I took the shoes off and put on flip-flops instead. I took the book and my reading glasses out of the drawer and walked out of my room down to the living room. Yes, I wear reading glasses. Only when I plan to read for hours, it's much comfortable than contacts. I decided to wait for Mom to come home before dinner. The living room was empty and I didn't bother to look for Nick. I wanted to be alone. I sat down the couch, kicking off my slippers and sat like an Indian. I popped the book open. It was the part where they planned their secret marriage. It was brave of them, to fight for their love even when they're both paranoid with the Opera Ghost trying to get Christine for himself. They made it sound so easy to be brave. I wish it was.

I heard notes and then it slowly formed into a beautiful harmony. Music. I looked up from my book and saw Nick playing the piano from the corner of the room. I didn't even notice him go down. He saw me looking at him and stopped. He chuckled.

"I like your glasses." he said.

"Thanks." I replied and went on with the reading. He kept playing on the piano which was very relaxing. The music fit with the book I was reading which made it all the more interesting to read. The Phantom, he was such an angry and lonely soul. And I love how Raoul de Chagny would sacrifice his life for Christine. See, they were childhood sweethearts, they met again after years, they've always loved each other.. No, that can't happen to me and Nick. We're just friends, that's all, nothing more.. right? I lay myself down on the couch, to get a more comfortable position and continued to read. I barely noticed but my eyelids started dropping.

I was drowning. I couldn't breathe, someone jumped for me but I couldn't see who it was, the water was filling my lungs and my nose. I feel so heavy I was floating lower and lower below the water, I try to push myself up but a wave pushes me back down. I tried to gasp for air. No air, only more water.

My eyelids fling open, and I was sweating. I gasped for air. I'm alive, it was a dream, that dream again. I took the blanket off of my body. I fell asleep on the couch. Was it morning already? I blinked hard and realized it was dark. It was night time. I forgot to make dinner for them. But I smelled something, something that made my stomach growl. I sat up and fixed myself, trying to get rid of my nap hang over. I hated this feeling. I folded the blanket and walked to the kitchen.

"You're awake." Nick greeted, closing the oven.

"I feel asleep. Guess I was really tired." I said as I massaged my forehead.

"Or you found my music really boring." he said leaning on the counter.

"No, it was beautiful." I said, smiling.

"Phantom of the Opera, huh?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yeah. Read it for the Nth time. Thanks for the blanket by the way." I walked next to him.

"You were having a weird dream, I think. You kept flinching and moaning." Oh great. Nick get to watch me suffer of drowning in a dream. I tried to make it not interesting enough to talk about.

"I did? Well, maybe I'm more tired than I thought." I rubbed my arm.

"It was like you were drowning." he said with a confused look on his face. I just nodded and changed the subject.

"Huh, so what are you making?" I asked, taking a peek inside the oven.

"Mom told me to put the turkey cuts in the oven." he explained.

"Smells great. And what is that?" I saw a pot over flowing with boiling water. I rushed to the stove and took the lid off with a cloth. I lowered the fire and shot Nick a look.

"Help me with the soup?" he said with a grin. I let out a laugh.

"Okay. Do you know I make awesome soup?" I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled.

"Great, because I suck." he said chuckling.

We made an all vegetable soup and the turkey Aunt Denise marinated smells amazing. We were already setting up the table when we heard the front door open.

"Hey, guys. We're home. Something smells great." I heard my Mom say.

"Nick, did you put the turkey in?" Aunt Denise asked loudly.

"Yes, Mom! It's done." Nick shouted back.

"Great. We're starving." she said, and we heard their footsteps coming in closer to the dining room.

I had a little talk with Mom, in the morning. I asked for her permission about the party. She approved but then again with all the Do's and Don'ts list. I skipped the jog and wrote a few more things in my notebook.

_Had the dream again. I wish I could just forget about it. Nick knows. Not the entire story. He just knew that I had a nightmare. Why do I keep having them whenever there's a great day? I hate it. I don't want to go back to therapy. Shit... I fell asleep o the couch, Nick gave me a blanket. He sucked at making soups. Party later, don't know what to expect. I heard him play the piano. It was beautiful, the notes were still stuck in my ear. I want to hear more._

Two hours until the party, and I'm still to lazy to dress up. Nick is taking a nap in his room. I walk to the piano and slowly open the cover. I place my fingers over the keys and started to play a couple of notes, then an entire song. I smiled to myself. I was glad I could still remember it. I remembered playing the piano with Dad when I was little, he taught me how. I had an electric piano in my room in Cali, but it stopped working. So, I didn't bother buying a new one since I wasn't following the footsteps of my Dad, or Trace's or Brandi's. I played the song I would never forget, the one that was so familiar to me I could do it in my sleep. It was beautiful, soft and high. Like music from a fairytale. I chose to play now so Nick wouldn't hear. He was too amazing, I didn't want to show him my mediocre piano playing. I finished and breathed out slowly. I held the cover and started to close it back when I heard a voice behind me that made me slam it down. I jumped.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Nick said and I looked back at him.

"Stop doing that. Creeping up on people. I didn't even hear you." I told him.

"Unlike you of course, you and your really loud footsteps." he joked.

"I do not have loud footsteps." I defended.

"You didn't tell me you could play the piano." he smiled, sitting next to me.

"And you heard that too." I said as I awkwardly nodded. "Uhh, I don't. That was just something my Dad taught me when I was a kid. We wrote that piece together."

"It was beautiful." he said.

"Thanks." I replied.

"It sounded great, really. What else can you do that I don't know? Besides you know, making soup and getting the Pop-Tarts out on time so they wouldn't burn." he asked as he smiled.

"Nothing much you need to know. But, I can make a really awesome smoothie." I nodded at him and giggled.

"I like smoothies." he nodded back as he chuckled.

"Come on, let's get dressed. Don't want to miss the party, do we?." I said as I stood up.

Since I really didn't pack a party dress because I didn't bother too, who knew I'd be going to a party with Nick? Anyway, I just put on a simple black top, a mini skirt—this is the closest I can substitute for a dress, and my heels. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and wore a couple of accessories. I debated whether if I should wear make-up or not. But I did put on some, just a little, not too noticeable. Nick met me at my bedroom door. I gave him a twirl and asked for his opinion about how I looked like. As usual he did his insult-compliment, but told me I looked fine. We were off to Liam's.

"How long have you known Liam?" I asked as I looked around Liam's village.

"Since 9th grade. He's part of the band we've been good friends ever since." his eyes were glued to the road.

We reached Liam's street and his house came to sight. His windows were lit with different colored flashing and dancing lights. There were some boys smoking, a few couples shoving their tongues up each other's throat and junkies were laughing crazily.

"Looks like some people got too excited with the bong." I joked as the car approached closer.

"Do you do drugs?" he suddenly asked.

"No. Do you?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uhh. Yes." he said, nodding and gave me a serious look. I was in a state of shock.

"What?" was all could say.

"I'm messing with you." he chuckled as he gave me a little push.

"You better be." I punched his arm playfully and laughed. I hoped he really was kidding. "People can be really wild for a place so peaceful."

"Teenagers." he scoffed and we laughed.

We reached Liam's place. It was huge. I could hear the loud music from inside the car. Nick parked the car on the other side of the street and we got off. We walked to the house and Liam was just finishing gulping down something from a cup and approached us.

"Glad you could make it. Hi, Miley." he said as he gave me a wink. He was gorgeous, no denying about that. But then he reeked of alcohol and he was smiling like an idiot.

"Hey. The place looks awesome." I managed to say from the loud music.

"Thank you. Enjoy yourselves, drinks over there, and food just next to it. The DJ takes requests and some of the guys are in the pool." _Pool? Great, more water._

"Okay. Awesome party by the way, man." Nick greeted as he pat his arm.

"Am I not the party king? Gotta dash, though. I only have eight hours left to party hard." he said and we laughed. Liam walks off to his friends. And Nick leads me to the side of the mini bar and we sit on the stools.

"A drink?" he asked loudly fighting the music.

"Punch would be good."I replied, doing the same thing. He handed me a red cup and we drink up. He might have seen someone since he stood up and kept looking at that person. I followed his eyes and tried to find who he was looking at. "What's wrong?"

"Give me a second." he excused himself and stood up.

"Sure." I replied as I nodded. He pushed through the people on the dance floor and reached these good looking guys. His band mates, maybe. They were talking and nodding to each other, and in a few seconds they were all approaching me. _Crap Nick, if you leave me with these guys, I am going to kill you and drown you in Liam's pool._

"Miles, meet the guys." he said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"You're band mates?" I asked, smiling and he nodded.

"Since you've already met Liam, might as well meet the rest of the crew."

"So, this is the greatest band in the universe Nick was talking about."

"This is Mikey, Blake and Tony." he said as he pointed at each one of them.

"Hey Miley." they all said simultaneously, giving me a small wave.

"Hi. Nice to meet you guys." I smiled and Blake leaned near my ear. I tried not to flinch.

"Nick was wrong about you. I think you're really pretty and you don't have a mustache." he said, that sweet boy just made my day. I laughed. I saw the other two put up a thumb and nodded.

"Thanks. Yeah, he was just fooling around." I replied, nodding and we both laughed.

"He fools around a lot."

"I bet he does." I looked at Nick who has no idea of what we just talked about. "Don't you, Nick?" he looked at me curiously and then nodded. I laughed and so did Blake.

"So.. Maybe I could hear you play sometime?" I said to continue the conversation. I wasn't really into band music, but with these guys as a band member, I'd make an exception.

"Oh definitely." Blake confirmed.

"We practice over at Nick's." said Tony, we all glanced his way and he nodded.

"That's great, then!" I said enthusiastically as I nodded.

"Miley, you want to dance?" Blake offered. I felt my cheeks burn but took his offer anyway, I never decline an offer to dance. Dancing is the only thing I do at parties, I do not want to miss this.

"Glad to. C'mon Nick, let's dance." I remembered and decided to ask him to come.

"Dancing isn't really my thing so.. you go ahead." I gave him a look. "Just go, you'll be fine. I'll just stay here." he nodded as he drank from his red cup.

"Fine." I said and took Blake's hand and started dancing with him in the dance floor. I decided to stick with Blake, Tony and Mikey. We had a few chats and a few laughs but mostly dancing. They were fun to be with, and they were nice guys. No harsh touching, just dancing, jumping to the beat. Mikey even offered me a drink, I couldn't say no and just drank it up. After a few songs, my eyes searched for Nick. He wasn't in the mini bar. I searched for him around the room, no sign. I had a crazy feeling he'd be lying on a floor somewhere having another one of his weird attacks. I pushed the thought away and decided to ask Blake.

"Hey, have you seen Nick?" I shouted through the music.

"Not lately." he said as he shook his head.

"Where do you think he went?" I asked my eyes still circling the room.

"Maybe outside." he said as he shrugged.

"Hey, excuse me. I gotta find him." I gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." he nodded and I pushed through the crowd to the kitchen. I headed to the back door and there revealed the pool. A few people were in it and maybe a dozen others were just by the pool side. I searched for Nick, my eyes squinting, looking around for him.

"Hey." I heard his voice behind me.

"Hey. Where have you been?" I asked breathless.

"I just went to the bathroom. Blake said you were looking for me." he pointed his thumb back at the house.

"Oh, yeah. I was kinda worried." I said, trying to calm my pounding heart.

"Can I guy not go to the bathroom?" he asked, jokingly and chuckled.

"Not that. It's just I thought something happened." I felt my face tensed out of worry.

"Oh, no. Won't ever happen again." he said.

"Are you sure?" I gave him a worried look and he sighed. A small smile formed on his lips.

"I'm sure." he answered. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I smiled.

"Great. C'mon, let's go back in." I offered to take my mind off of the negative things.

"Can we stay here for a while?" he asked, almost pleading. I nodded.

"Yeah, uh.. sure." I said as I faked a smile. _It's just a pool Miley, it won't be that deep. Pull yourself together. _We sat on their patio chairs, far from the others. I stared into the pool. Boys in trunks and girls in bikinis are playing a friendly game of volleyball. "How deep is the pool?"

"4 to 7 feet deep. I think."

"7. Wow, that's kinda deep."

"What? No way."

"Yes it is."

"Why? You have a problem with the water?"

"Now that you asked.. Well, kind of."

"Hydrophobia?"

"No, they don't exactly call it that. I just.. had a bad experience. Almost drowned."

"Why what happened? You.. wanna talk about, it?" he asked politely.

I gave him a small smile and he looked at me as if he wanted me to go on. I took a deep breath. I was going to tell Nick, I need to tell somebody besides my parents.

"I was 12, we went to a beach in California. My best friend died, maybe even.. because of.. me. I was swimming and got far off the safe line, I thought I was going to die. I was struggling to stay afloat, the waves were too strong.. he jumped for me and got me on a life preserver. I thought he was with me when they were pulling me to the boat. I guess he was carried away by the big waves, I didn't even hear him scream, there were no sign of anything. I almost let go of the life preserver to go find him when a rescuer on a small boat stopped me." I tried to keep a neutral voice, like I wasn't telling something bad.

"Ethan was an angel for saving my life. People think I killed him, people think it was my fault. But I know it's not, it's just sometimes.. I can't help but to think the same way. But, what he did for me as amazing, saving my life and all.. And he'll always be the greatest person I know. I just wish he's somewhere safe now." my lips broke into a small smile and he was looking at me sadly. It felt comfortable telling Nick the entire story."Yeah, it isn't the story of the century. I must be boring you."

"No, no. It wasn't boring just.. shocking. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." he said, putting his hands together and looked down.

"It's okay, Nick. It felt good telling you. Nobody knows but Ethan's family and mine. And.. I trust you." I said as I looked down at my shoes. Our eyes met and his lips formed into a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks for, trusting me. And, I don't think it was your fault... you shouldn't _ever_ blame yourself. I'm glad you're still alive." he said quietly and patted my leg.

"Thanks, Nick." I let out a small laugh. He stood up and offered me a hand, I took it and stood up.

"Let's go in and have fun. Get all the negativity out for a while." he said and started to lead me back to the house, before he could take a step further from the patio, I gripped on his hand harder.

"Wait." I stopped him and pulled him into a hug. I held him, felt his warmth and closed my eyes. He hugged back and I felt his arms wrapped around me. It's amazing how two people can be so close to each other and how their bodies fit with the other. I pulled away and smiled at him. "Thanks." I said and he reached for my cheeks, stroked it with his thumb. He let go and took my hand again. We walked inside and had a couple more drinks.

"To being alive." he said, raising his cup and I smiled.

"To life." I clicked our cup together and drank up. Before we could get a little tipsy, he finally offered to dance.

"Stay here." he said and disappeared into the crowd. The music stopped, I looked over at the DJ's table but had no luck finding out what's happening. The music then turned into a slow song and Nick appeared in front of me.

"Nice." I say referring to the music.

"Yes, well, I'm not much of a party dancer but I can take a few steps with slow dancing." he said as he held me closer to him, his hands on my waist. I laughed as I put my arms over his shoulder.

"Well I'm glad to hear that. If you step on me I'll kill you." I joked.

"I'll try not to." he said with a smile.

"Thanks for taking me out yesterday. It was fun. And taking me here tonight."

"Yeah? Can you believe you've only been here two days?"

"I have? I think we flew here last week." I teased.

"You have such a great tour guide then."

"Can we just stay silent like normal people on a slow dance?" I said and he laughed. I smiled and stayed silent. I absorbed the mellow music. We caught ourselves mouthing the lyrics of the song and started giggling again. With Nick, I just couldn't help but smile or laugh. I caught his brown orbs and looked deep into them not saying one word. It was beautiful, he was beautiful, he was amazing. _Miley, don't tell me __you're falling for him. You can't, you just met him. Or at least you just met him again after exactly nine years. _I held him closer.

"I don't know why, but you seem very attractive with the dim lights." I teased, whispering in his ear.

"I think you're getting kinda cute too." he whispered in mine that sent tingles down my back.

"Shut up. I've always been adorable." I say with a small laugh. My stomach dropped and I could feel my face burning. I feel like I couldn't breathe.

"I think.. you're the most amazing girl I've ever met." he whispered again this time, much softer. I could feel his breath in my ear.

"I think.. you're crazy." we both let out a laugh.

I pulled away and looked right into his eyes. Nick doesn't know what he's saying. He's crazy, he's completely crazy. My hands traveled down to his chest, I looked down and our foreheads touch one another. I took a deep breath, and looked up at his eyes. There is a huge knot in my gut, my knees feel weak, but I can feel warmth across my body. It felt good, being this close to Nick. I like him but isn't this all to fast? Two days. Two days, from hating each other into this. He leaned in closer, our lips inches apart. I could hear his breathing above the loud music, I could feel the beating of his heart against my palm, everything seemed to go blank around us; we were the only ones in the room. His lips collided against mine, we kissed, we kissed again, and again.. and again. I could feel nothing else but his soft lips and the fast rhythmic pumping against my palm. Nicholas Grey is kissing me and it feels like a beautiful dream.

**Author's Note: **_Yes, they finally kissed. What do you think would happen next? How did you like this chapter? Tell me, they make my day. Stoked about Jennifer Lawrence's hair dye, she's perfect for Katniss. And Nick Jonas with Delta? How about, NO? NILEY FOREVER! © bows and arrows._


	7. Chapter Seven

**Author's Note:**_ AHH! Thank you for the reviews, I love them so much. So, my laptop still isn't fixed and my keyboard was screwed up too. I just bought a new one yesterday, I'm sorry if it's a little late. The next chapter may take a little longer. But, I have a new story and I'm working on it. Major T in the last part of the chapter. :D Enjoy!_

_Chapter Seven_

"I'm waiting, Miley."

"We just kissed. And he's not my boyfriend, Lily." I said over the phone, laying down on my bed. It was 8 in the morning and I decided to skip breakfast, to call Lily. Plus my head is throbbing so I had to stay in bed a few more minutes. I could replay all that happened last night.. the kiss, the laughs, the dancing, the drinks and falling asleep in Nick's car.

"Do you realize this is all wrong?" Obviously I told Lily about it.

"I do, but.. we're just friends." I reasoned out hiding under the covers to block off the sun.

"Kissing, wait no, _making out_ at a party isn't _just friends_, Mi."

"Okay.. we're friends but we like each other. We kissed. I didn't mind. I like him."

"This might be just like.. a summer fling, then when you get to college, bam, broken heart. And after the summer, when you leave, it's going to be hard. And you live in the same house, that's a little creepy. Mi, you need to tell him what you think of this."

"I will, I just don't know how." I said quietly and turned to my side.

"I can't believe first two days in there and you're already in love."

"I'm not in love.. yet. And it's not like we just met now. We've been friends for years." I tried to defend but obviously Lily was too smart for that.

"Yeah, no. _His_ Mom and _your_ Mom are friends. And you guys were in World War III." she said sarcastically, and I huffed.

"Aw, I miss you Lils. I wish you were here so you could give me a slap on the face. And then meet all the cute boys around here." I teased.

"Take a picture if you can and send them." she said in a hushed tone. I laughed.

"I'm not going to be a stalker for you. Crazy."

"You don't have to take them seriously. You can get some when the band rehearses or something." I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"So how are you guys there?" I asked, missing them all over again.

"Party later at Tori's. Oliver's grounded so he's not coming. I think it's something about him getting caught watching X-rated movies."

"Boys." I sighed.

"I know. Jake's going out with Dianne, and Alex is being Alex, couch potato." she laughed, I missed her laugh.

"Miss you guys. Tell everyone I miss them. I'll just email the photos _if_ I ever get some. You should see some of Nick's photography, they're amazing." I heard her say 'amazing' in a sarcastic tone and I let out another laugh. "Alright, someone else is on the line, I gotta go. Bye." I hung up from Lily and answered the incoming call. "Hello?"

"Hey Baby Girl." I heard my Dad's voice on the line.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, he laughed.

When I hung up from my long and very baby-ish conversation with Dad. I got scared of the silence, even though the room was very lit and it's morning. What happened last night kept on replaying inside my head. I touched my lips. _He kissed me. __It was real. It wasn't like my drowning dream._ I remembered his eyes, the way he looked so intense when he stared at me. The way he really did look attractive in the dim lights. I started to think of what happens after this. New Jersey, back to Cali, then to Brown in Rhode Island. He'd be in NYU, if he'd follow what he wants. We'll be kilometers apart. If this doesn't work out, living in one house would be as awkward as hell. I groaned. Should I act like nothing happened? Should I tell him what we were doing was crazy? I took out a pen, and my notebook. I started to write.

_Party last night. Wasn't what I expected, really. And everything is still vivid. It was real. I told him about Ethan. It felt good finally telling someone the other side of me. The crazy side. Except I wasn't really crazy, sometimes I feel I'm crazy. People tell me I'm crazy. I was a murderer. But no, Nick told me I wasn't. It felt good. He kissed me. Now that was... something. I don't know what happens after this. Guess we just have to find out. Can I just, scream? _

I dropped the pen and grabbed a pillow. I violently placed it on my face, took a deep breath and just screamed. I heard the door open.

"Miley?" I heard my Mom said. Even she can hear my muffled screams.

"Yeah?" I lifted the pillow off my face, acting like nothing happened.

"You missed breakfast." she said with a worried look.

"Yeah, I uh.. just needed to sleep in. I got tired from last night." I reasoned out. She nodded, still suspicious.

"Alright. There's still breakfast downstairs." she said, pointing behind her.

"Sure." I nodded as I fixed my hair and sighed.

"We're leaving now, okay?" she told me and I nodded.

"Yeah. Have fun at work, Mom." I forced a smile.

"Are you okay, dear?" she finally asked. I hate it when she senses something wrong.

"I'm fine." I said, nodding and kept the smile on my face.

"Did something happen last night?" she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She sat next to me on the bed.

"No. Nothing. I'm just really tired." I shrugged and she seemed to buy it.

"Okay, then. Get some rest today. I'll see you later." she pulled me closer and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I gave her a small smile and she left the room.

I finally had the courage to go down when I got myself cleaned and dressed up. Plus I was really hungry so I decided to come down. The house is once again, silent, peaceful. With only two people living in a home like this.. you kind of get freaked out a little. I found Nick in the garage, his white tank top messed up with black smudges. His car hood was open and he was fixing a few things in it.

"Hey." I greeted, not knowing where this conversation was going.

"Hi." he said, looking up from under the hood. He got out and wiped his hand on a clean cloth. "You missed breakfast."

"Listen, Nick.. about last night." I walked toward him and before I could continue, I felt his lips on mine. My eyes closed on the split second I felt him lean in. I loved how his lips touches mine, I almost wrapped my arms around him when I remembered why I was down here. I pulled away and he smiled. I just stared at him and sighed, his smile faded.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't know. About.. this." I randomly waved my hands around, referring to us. I dropped my hands and stared at him again. I mentally slapped myself thinking of how pathetic I might have sounded. _You kiss him back and then you're this, what the hell are you doing Miley?_

"You don't know?" he raised an eyebrow.

"This is.. very complicated." I sighed.

"It isn't if you don't think of it that way." he shook his head.

"That's just it. I can't help thinking of it that way. I like you Nick, don't get me wrong.. it's just..."

"It's okay Miley.. I-I understand. I'm sorry." he looked down, nodding.

"No, Nick. God! Why is this so hard?" I grunted under my breath, he looked up at me and chuckled. _How can he find this funny? Jesus Christ, Nicholas!_ I sighed. "How about.. friends?" I said, slightly shrugging. _God, damn it, this is so awkward._ He nodded and looked at me for a second.

"Sure, yeah, I mean.. friends. For now." he winked. I scoffed and let out a small laugh. "Can you start the car, I'll go check how the engine is."

"Sure." I nodded.

"Wait, one more thing."

"What?" I gave him a look, he leaned in again and gave me a peck on the lips. He's such a tease. I won't deny that I liked it. But, we had a deal. "Nick.." I exclaimed.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. Won't happen again. Swear." he chuckled and I slapped his chest with the back of my hand. I giggled as I got in the car. I started the engine.

_Ten days. And I am loving it, loving every moment of it. We're taking it slow. We were friends, but then again, something more than that. I'm starting to think. I'm thinking.. Don't laugh, okay? I love him. Am I crazy? Should I even think of it? TEN DAYS. I think I should go back to therapy. I am crazy. But I love him. Nick is, for the lac of better word.. perfect. I listened to his songs again, yesterday. They were laughable and I loved them. I like how he, tries to take a good photo of me when I refuse to. I liked the way he holds my hand under the table during dinner. Is it crazy that I love him? I need to call my doctor again._

_Note to self: Lily's pictures. When the band practices, make sure you bring your camera._

Another page of my notebook was piled with words about me and Nick, what I feel about him, what kind of day I just had, what I think about what would happen next.

Nick and I have the house to ourselves. Surprisingly, our Moms trust us and no, nothing extreme has ever happened. Nick has been nice, he kept our deal. Although sometimes he can't help but go all sweet and kiss me. Mom and Aunt Denise's day offs are on Tuesday's and they helped us with a couple of chores. We get ourselves into a few conversations and Nick would glance my way and give me a secretive wink. I blush. When they get home, Mom would just talk to me nonstop about work and Dad and ask me how my day was. I tried to slowly tell her what I think about Nick. But I really couldn't get into the actual point, I end up changing the subject.

For the past week Nick and I are enjoying ourselves without spending too much time with each other. He went out with his guy friends a couple more times this week and I let him go alone. I didn't want to squeeze in with them when it was obviously a guy's night out. At some point, I would wonder if Nick thinks about me as much as I do with him. I would wonder if he talks about me with his guy friends, especially now that they saw us together in the party.

We'd do our daily morning jog. In the afternoon, I would read and he'd work on his music. We'd take walks, no holding hands, no arm around the other, no kissing. I was pretty impressed with him, taking it slow.. just having fun with each other around. But yesterday, I couldn't help but take his hand when we had a walk to the playground. And maybe a little kiss didn't hurt.

We're alone again, Mom and Denise left. They just left for New York, _New York, _just this morning. Their batch will have a seminar and Aunt Denise was happy to accompany her since she's been to New York before. The seminar would last 5 days, and they seemed to be okay with the idea of me and Nick being alone for days. They trusted us and they knew we can handle ourselves just fine.. I hope.

I decided to take a milk bubble bath, to just make my day by relaxing. I can't believe Mom just left for New York and no matter how hard I begged, she decided to make me stay here. I was so jealous. I turn on the faucet, fill the tub with bubble bath soap and take off my clothes. I put my hair up and stepped into the tub, feeling the warm water touch my skin. I sit as I sigh, closing my eyes. I couldn't hear anything, I don't want to hear anything, I don't want to think of anything, just me and the warm soapy water that it touching my skin. The door opened, my head turned and saw Nick was holding the door open.

"What the hell, Nick? You still don't know how to knock?" I shouted at him as I dipped myself deeper into the water until it almost reached my neck. He smiled and then chuckled.

"I'm sorry. You don't know how to lock a door?" he snapped back. I gave him a glare.

"Well, I apologize for growing up in a house with a much less complicated type of lock." I defended and he laughed. Curse Nick's house and their fancy complications.

"I was finding you." he said as he walked into the bathroom closing the door behind him.

"I'd be more comfortable if you stayed by the door." instead he walked near the tub and sat on the floor beside me. I gave him a look. "You're lucky the tub is all milky and bubbly." I said with narrowed eyes.

"What's on our agenda today?" he said placing his arms on the tub's rim, looking at me. I play with the bubbles, thinking.

"I disappear for.. six minutes and you come finding me just to ask that question?" I said, still playing with the foamy bubbles in my hands.

"Sort of." he said putting his chin on his arm. I am lucky this tub is deep enough to hide my.. everything. I sighed.

"I don't know.. Relax, read, watch TV." I shrugged, gathering he bubbles to my chest and play with it.

"How 'bout we go bowling?" he suggested.

"Bowling?" I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, there's one in town. And they serve pizzas, nachos, tacos, fries, juicy burgers." he nodded as he says the statement. The burgers suddenly changed my mind.

"I like juicy burgers." I nodded with him, smiling.

"Mm. We'll go later." he smiles.

"Okay." I nodded and looked back to the bubbles in my hands, transferring them from one hand to another. I make mountain like shapes by molding the top with my fingertips. I felt Nick watching me for a moment.

"What do you want to do now?" he said softly. He likes starting conversations a lot. The question made me feel playful, so I gathered a handful of bubbles, not too many.

"Right now.. this." I wiped the pile of bubbles on my hand on Nick's face, shaping it like a beard. "Mmm.. you look adorable." I grinned and couldn't help but laugh.

"Cute, Miley." he teased, I laughed harder as I shaped it perfectly on his chin. "Mi, take it off." he chuckled.

"No." I said.

"Yes." he demanded. I giggled.

"No. I like you with a beard." I shaped it again, adding more.

"Really?" he looked down at the white foamy beard.

"Can you even grow one?" I raised an eyebrow at him and broke into a laugh.

"Ouch." he said with a dramatic gesture, placing his hands on his chest.

"I'm kidding. And that acting thing is really great.. you looked almost believable." I laughed and he chuckled.

"Lucky you're in a tub right now." he stood up and walked to the sink.

"Oh yeah. This is really lucky." I nodded, and giggled. I watched him wash his face.

"See you in a few." he said and I nodded. He left the room and I try to get back to relaxing.

Next thing I know I'm getting off the car with Nick. The place was like any other bowling alley. Retro, fun, colorful, packed.. especially now that it's summer.

"You keep taking me to places. But we haven't checked out the library yet." I said as I closed the car door behind me.

"We'll see it sometime. It's not like it going to grow four legs and run away, right?" he joked.

"Very imaginative, Nick. Wow." I laughed. He took my arm and locked it with his. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we walk to the building. I loved being this close to him.

"How do you like it here so far?" he asked when we entered.

"Princeton or the bowling alley?" I looked around. It was a bowling alley, nothing different.. pins, bowling balls, tables, score boards, bowling shoes, smell of food, a regular bowling alley.

"Princeton." he answered.

"Well, for the record, coming from a small town in California.. this place kind of feels like home too. Peaceful, simple living, except for the mansion part though."

"But you love the house." he said as he nudged me.

"I do. And everything is perfect." _Sometimes, I think a little too perfect_. I nodded as we approached the counter.

We rented shoes, picked a lane and a ball. I sat on our table soaking in the surroundings. Nick sat beside me studying the scoreboard for a few seconds. I stared at him, observing him. He just makes everything better. I don't know if he even knows that he's always the one who makes my day. He makes everything seem easier. I was starting to think, life.. has never been this good before. After all the screwed up things I've been through.

I picked up my ball and gave him a look. "Prepared to be crushed, Nicholas Jerry Grey."

"Show me what you don't got Miley Ray Stewart." he shrugged and pointed his hands to the lane. I turn around and faced the shiny wooden floor. The pins were ready, standing at the other end of the lane. I took a deep breath and rolled the ball. It was going.. and going.. then I hear pins tumbling down. A strike! I snapped my body to Nick, gave him a smug look and laughed. "Not bad Stewart."

"Thank you, Nicholas." I gave him a small curtsy and walked back to our table.

"My turn then." he stood up and I was inches away from his face. It was so tempting to kiss him right now, I bit my lip.

"Lane's all yours, _monsieur_." I say under my breath and his lips broke into a smile.

"Don't get me started with French." he said as I laughed. He picked up his balland walked in front of the lane, I took a seat and watched him. He took a few steps, slightly crossed his feet under the other, bent down and rolled the ball ever so smoothly. We watched the ball go in a smooth and fast pace, after a few seconds the ball knocked all the pins down. The scoreboard showed a huge 'x' next to his name, right below my 'x'. He looked back at me and I gave him a small smile.

"Tied for first?" I asked, as I crossed my arms.

"I could deal with that. But the game must go on." he pointed at me and I nodded.

After a few strikes, spares and more knocking down of pins, I've scored a few points higher than Nick.

"Ooh, so close." I said, squinting my eyes. He left two pins standing, he needed another strike to beat my score. But luckily for me, that was his last shot.

"But not good enough. Fine, you win."

"Oh you're such a great sport Nicholas." I said sarcastically as I stood up. He walked closer to me and chuckled. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I place my hands on his shoulders. I giggled as I pulled him for a kiss. I beat Nick with six points. It was cute how competitive he gets. We left the bowling alley a few hours after we arrived there. It was past six, the orange sun was still shining from the sky, giving the surrounding a nice golden glow. We got into his car.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

"Only because you beat me."

"Yeah, maybe that. But that was the most fun we've done."

"Well, we're not quite done yet. I want to take you somewhere."

"Surprise me."

"Oh you'll be surprised." he chuckled as he started the engine.

The sun was beginning to set when we arrived to what looks like a private pool. I had a bad feeling about this. The sun was giving the water and orange and gray mixture of color, giving it a little sparkle too. I could smell the chlorine from the gate. Nick opened the wire gate and we entered the empty pool site.

"Why are we here?" I asked and walked by his side.

"It's peaceful here. No one swims here after five." he said as we strolled around the pool.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's closed. But don't worry, the owner's a friend of mine a he said I could stop by anytime if I wanted to." he explained as he put his hands in his pocket.

"What's with you and water?" I asked, smiling.

"They're fun." he answered.

"They're terrifying." I added.

"That's because you keep coming back to _that_ day. But if you try to just.. enjoy it again, forget all your anxiety, embrace the water, you might get over it. Not that I'm a psychiatrist or anything, maybe you should try?" he took my hand and a warmth spread through my body. I gave him a small smile.

"Where are you going with this?"I asked and he shrugged. He started looking around the pebbles and picked one up. He held the flat pebble up.

"I could do a triple skip with this pebble." _That was a random thing to say._ I let out a small laugh.

"No you can't." I opposed.

"Wanna bet?" he offered, smirking.

"Okay. I win, we just stay at home for the rest of the week and then check out the library without you complaining how quiet it is.."

"Aww. But if I win.. you kiss me." he said, throwing his pebble in the air and caught it with his hand.

"That's seems fine." I shrugged.

"_In_ the pool." _In the pool. _He is crazy.

"On water? The pool? Are you crazy?" I defended.

"We made a bet. Let it begin." he threw the pebble on the water like a Frisbee. I counted, one, two.. crap, three. He looked at me and smiled, a sneaky smile.

"No! I'm not going in there!" I screamed as he lifted me off the ground.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as I squirmed in his arms, laughing.

"Technically." I whimpered.

"Take a deep breath!" he said and I did as we jumped into the pool. I opened my eyes and found it comforting Nick was smiling in front of me, underwater. We both swim up our heads popping out of the water.

"You're crazy." I said out of breath. He chuckled. I was standing in the pool in front of him, the water up to our shoulders. There was one moment of silence. I could only hear the breeze brush by our faces, the water's splashes, our breathing. He swam closer to me. I held his shoulder and touched his wet cold face. I smiled.

"I love you, Miley." he said as he leaned closer to me, placing his forehead against mine. I could feel his hot breath on my face. I pulled my body towards him and wrapped my lags around his hips.

"I love you too, Nick" I finally answered. I love Nick. I'm in love with him. He held my face as we kiss passionately under the twilight sky. I could feel the small waves of the water on my skin, I can't seem to freak out like I usually do. With Nick, I feel secured, safe, confident as if I'm invincible. I started to swim around, and float on my back.

"You're swimming." he said, smiling and took my hand.

"Mind blow, right?" I laughed.

"Told you you could do it.." he said, kissing my fingertips.

"There's something about you that makes me trust you. And maybe this time, I wouldn't drown and take somebody's life." I joked but he seemed to take it seriously.

"You didn't take his life." he defended and intertwined his fingers with mine.

"I wish I'd believe that I didn't." I said softly.

"Mi.. Believe me, you're not a murderer. You're amazing." he smiled and I gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "We should probably get out of the pool already. It's freezing."

"Are you kidding me? I finally got into the water and made me soak my clothes just to swim for a minute?"

"Yeah."

"Well, might as well get the most out of it." I swam to the pool's edge and lifted my body out of the water. I stood up and took off my tank top and my pants. I rolled my clothes and squeezed the water out of them. I laughed when I caught Nick staring at me. I threw my clothes on a chair sitting on the poolside. I dived into the water only with my undergarments. Not exactly for swimming but good enough. I smiled when I got near Nick.

"Hi." I said, teasing him.

"Hi." he replied, sort of breathless.

"Your car's going to get really soaked if you don't take those off." I teased a little bit more as I bit my lip.

"Probably." he chuckled as he took off his shirt and threw it on the pool's edge. His small abs showing from underwater. The little sunlight is about to disappear any minute now. I could see it drop to the ground from the corner of my eye. Nick started unbuttoning his pants his eyes locked to mine. He took it off underwater and revealed a black pair of shorts. He smirked as he threw it near his shirt, I kissed him. I felt his wet hair, his soaking wet body, and I felt his strong arms around my body.

"I love you Nick Grey." I said wrapping my arms around his neck. The clouds became darker and the streetlights lit up.

"I love you too. You look fantastic in your underwear by the way." he complimented and felt his hands trace my curves. I laughed with him as I pulled him closer to me giving him a hug. I leaned my head in his shoulder. We held each other for a moment. Nick popped his head underwater and swam around me a couple of times as I laughed.

"It's freezing. I'm freezing." I told him as I shivered from the cool car air.

"Check the backseat, there are towels." he said, and I turned around to look. There was a bag and I brought it to my lap. I unzipped it and revealed two white towels and a thermos.

"So, you really had this planned?" I gave Nick a look as he drove down the road. He shrugged and smiled at me.

"You can never be too prepared. And I knew you would get in the water anyway." he said, looking back at the road.

"Oh, so you're a psychic now?" I joked at I took out the thermos and gave him a towel. I started rubbing the water out of my hair and wrapped it around my back and shoulders. I wiped away the drops of water on his face and in his hair. I put the towel around him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. I opened the thermos and it smelled of coffee, which made my mouth water. I poured a small amount on the cap and took a few sips. The warmth of the drink made me feel cozy and took away the shivers I've been having.

"Mm. Thanks for the coffee. It's perfect."

We drove in silence after that. I've had the best day of my entire teenage life and I'm really tired. I was pretty sure Nick was too, I leaned against my side of the window and stared into the road while Nick had his hands on my thigh. I took his hand and held it with both my hands, caressing it. I loved the way our hands fit together, I was in love with him and I felt good about it. He was amazing. We reached the house and walked up the stairs without even bothering to turn on the lights. All we wanted was to go lie down.

"Thanks for taking me out again." I said. We were standing outside my room, in the dark. There were only little light from outside, passing through the tinted glass window. I started to open the door when I felt Nick grab hold of my hand.

"Mi.." he called out in a soft voice. I turned.

"Yeah?" I looked at his half-dark face.

"I love you." he whispered, leaning in that made me lean back against the wall. His voice sent chills down my back and arms.

"I love you too." I replied, wanting to say it over and over again. I tilt my head up and pressed my lips against his. He kissed back, more passionately as he holds my face. My hands travel up his body, under his damp shirt and felt his warm bare skin. I felt his arms run through my hair, my heart started to beat harder against my chest and my knees getting weaker. I reached for the doorknob and twisted it open. I backed up to my room and he followed, not parting our lips. He closed the door behind him and we were alone in my room for the first time since my stay here. I back up to the bed and we finally pull away. I climb up the bed, resting my head against the soft pillows and Nick slowly crawls on top of me, face was inches away from mine. I reach for his neck and caressed his face.

"Nick.."

"Yes, beautiful?"

"I know I've said this a lot of times earlier already but, I want to say it again. Over and over if I could.." he let out a small laugh. "I love you Nick. You're amazing and gorgeous and.. perfect."

"Trust me, Miley. I'm not perfect." he said softly with a sad expression. It bothered me but I pushed the thought away. I gave him a small smile.

"Perfect to me, at least. And I love you."

"I love you more, Mi. And you're beautiful." he whispered, and pressed his lips against mine. We kissed passionately in the dark, I run my fingers through his curls. I wanted more of him, I opened my mouth and felt his tongue against mine. I felt his abs against my palms and got annoyed by the shirt. I started to take it off of him and I feel his hands rub against my thighs. My hands travel down his back then his pants, I shove my hands in and slowly started to take it off. It felt amazing, being close to Nick, especially this way, I love him and he loves me. He went from my lips, to my neck then my collar bones. I started to give in, I wanted to give in but I knew I shouldn't. I started to moan, I felt growth between his legs. I started to panic but I didn't want to stop, I breathed heavily and I could feel our hearts racing. He runs his hands under my shirt and stripped it off. He started unbuttoning my pants. We heard a knock on the door. _What the fuck? No one should be home tonight, they're probably in New York by now. _The lights flicker on and we saw someone at the door. _And I knew it instantly, we were dead._

**Author's Note:** _Woot! Who was that? Any guesses? I just bought Book One of The Mortal Instruments, my friends wanted me to read it so, I am. Anyway, any more books to suggest? I would appreciate them. I love you my dear readers! I wish I could give every one of you a big bear hug. © bows and arrows._


	8. Chapter Eight

**Author's Note: **_Helloooo, I am back from Hiatus (kinda). Did you guys miss me? No? Okay. :D Updates of stories will still take long and I apologize, I've been busy with some college stuff. I didn't do homework for this. So make me happy with your reviews. (: Warning you guys already, this chapter might suck a little. Not the proudest work so far. But oh well. I hope you enjoy this._

_Chapter Eight_

There was a woman in our doorway, it wasn't Mom or Aunt D. I've never met her before. She had curly hair and it reached her shoulders. She looked eerily like Aunt Denise but I was sure it wasn't her, this woman was younger. She was wearing an office blouse and a cardigan and a pair of light washed jeans. She was looking at us skeptically. We've all experienced a really awkward moment in our lives, but I have to say this situation was much worse. Imagine getting caught by a 30 year old woman (that you don't know) in your bedroom, making out with your boyfriend, half naked. And then, remember the most embarrassing moment of your entire life and multiply it to 10000. If you sum it all up, that was how terrible I felt. Nick rolled off of me and grabbed his shirt.

"Well, this is a warm welcome, isn't it, Nicholas?" she said.

"Aunt Jo? What are you doing here?" He said, and put on his shirt back.

"Can't your aunt visit her sister and her nephew?" she snapped, putting her hand in her hips. I was so red. I grabbed my top and hurriedly put it on. I cover myself with the sheets. Nick stood up and walked near the woman.

"No, I mean.. Hi, Aunt Jo." he greeted awkwardly.

"I'll leave you two to fix yourselves and I'll tell you something when you're done. I'll be downstairs." she looked past Nick and smiled at me. "Nice meeting you Miley."

She walked away and Nick closed the door. I hid under the sheets, very embarrassed. I can't believe Nick's aunt first saw me like this. I felt Nick climb in the bed and saw him under the sheets with me.

"I'm sorry about that." he said as he reached for my face. I shook my head.

"It wasn't just your fault, we shouldn't have.. gone that far." I fixed my blouse and my hair, sighing.

"I know. I'm sorry, about what _almost_ happened." he dropped his hands and scooted closer to me.

"Your Aunt would probably think I'm a screw up for seeing me like that." I shrugged and we both let out a light laugh.

"Don't worry, Aunt Jo is the least of our worries. Trust me." he gave me a smirk as he zipped up his pants. "You were.. really violent." he said with a laugh, I nudged him with my elbow.

"Let's just go before she gets anymore ideas on what's taking us so long." I giggled as I buttoned back my pants.

"Alright." he said taking my hand and throwing the sheet off our heads. I scoot to the end of the bed and he gave me a kiss on the side of my head. I smiled at him and he took me in his arm.

"Oh and.. if you're wondering, you really turned me on." I whispered in his ear and gave him a small kiss on the neck. I just love teasing him, the look on his face is priceless. I laughed as I stood up and walked to the door.

"Oh you're such a tease." he said behind me and chuckled.

We walk down the stairs and saw Nick's aunt sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine. She looked up and we awkwardly walk towards the couches and sit. She puts down the magazine and crosses her legs. I avoid her gaze and look down at my feet when I heard Nick say,

"So, how are you Aunt Jo?"

"Oh, I've been great Nicholas. How about you and your Mom?"

"We're doing great. She's been busy with work and all. She's in New York.. right now." he emphasized on the word 'now' almost angrily.

"Oh yes, I know.." she nodded. _Awkward Silence_. "So, let me just cut to the chase. Your mother wanted me to uh, what do you call it.. 'babysit' you guys this week."

"_What?_ Why?" Nick asked, almost rudely.

"She said, you guys needed 'adult supervision' although, I totally protested since I know you guys were old enough to.. handle yourselves." she cleared her throat, I groaned in my head. "But I guess I don't have a choice but to, follow my older sister's request."

"Well this is.. a surprise."

"Got knocked off my feet myself. Obviously you guys didn't notice me at all. I was in the kitchen, your mother gave me the keys to the house, by the way... I was getting a drink and you guys were _obviously_ busy." she snapped and Nick throws his head back with his eyes tightly shut. I bite my lips out of amusement and embarrassment. Nick lets out a sigh and then gives Aunt Jo a pleading look.

"I'm sorry about that Aunt Jo. It won't happen again."

"I know," she started. "you guys know what you're doing. And I trust you, Nick, to know the boundaries and limits.." she slowly nods. "And I'm not going to continue this conversation because it makes me sound like a grandmother giving a sermon to her grand kids." she shuddered and I can't help but to break into a small laugh. Nick shoots me a look and I stop.

"Sorry." I said.

"Anyway, it's nice to officially meet you Miley, Nick told me so much about you." she gave me a wide smile.

"Pleasure to meet you too. I didn't know Nick talked about me." I gave her the sweetest smile I could put on and shrugged.

"Oh my goodness, sweetie. Just call me Aunt Jo. And yes well, that was one time, over the phone and it lasted for a few hours." she made a face and I giggled.

"Ha! Ha.. Yes, Aunt Jo. Let's get your bags in your room?" he stood up, maybe to avoid this conversation. I laugh on the inside.

"Your mother said I'll stay at hers." she explains.

"Of course." Nick nodded and started to walk off.

"I'm pretty sure you can handle the bags by yourself, and go fix the bed for me, will you dear? I'll go and have a small talk with Miley for just a moment. Thank you." she said.

"Nothing embarrassing though." he warns as he walks to her bags. Aunt Jo laughed.

"Honey, I'm your Aunt. I can't help but to tell everyone how cute your-"

"Okay! Aunt Jo! I don't think Miley needs to hear that.. or anyone else." he waved his hands randomly in the air and took her bags upstairs.

"I used to change his diapers." she whispered to me, nodding. We laughed. She seems kind of cool.

"Your Aunt Denise's younger sister. I didn't know she even had a sister." I started.

"Yes, well it's just the two of us." she nodded.

"Do you mind if I ask if you're married?" suddenly I got curious. The fact that she's a lady and she's going to be stuck babysitting us, she might have to leave work, or her kids, or her husband, or maybe even a pet dog.

"Oh, no. I never liked the thought of committing, to someone. Not yet, at least. We've got a whole life to live, and it'll come soon enough. I'm young, just turned 30, but don't tell anyone that. They think I'm only 26." _It's official. She is so cool._

"I won't." I giggled, shaking my head.

"Nick told me almost _everything_ about you. So it kind of feels like, I know you already. I heard you were going to Brown. That's exciting."

"It's a dream come true, well.. almost. Not until I-"

"Get into the business and become a writer or journalist. I know. Nick told me." she nodded and stood up to sit next to me. I can't believe Nick told her those. It was sweet, in a weird way. But mostly sweet, I laughed in my mind. She took a deep breath. "So, in your perspective.. how are you and Nick kicking it off?"

"We're great." I smiled dreamily, thinking of Nick and how sure I was of what I felt for him.

"Do you love him?" I knew she was going to ask that question. What to do? Hesitate? Answer immediately? I didn't want get the wrong impression.

"Yes. I do. I mean, is that.. crazy?" I asked awkwardly.

"Oh, Miley. Life is crazy, you just gotta choose the right kind of crazy. But, if you ask me. I like you for Nick. And he's crazy about you."

"Really?"

"Hell yeah. Nick is the sweetest, talented, smartest, most sensitive and artistic boy I have ever met. And I'm not saying that just because I'm his Aunt. And I think you two are perfect."

"It's not like we're getting married right?"

"Oh my god! No, Miley!" she answered, but then gave me a look. "But.. you never know." I laughed.

"Sometimes, I think he's too perfect, like he's not real.. like I'm having a really lucid dream and when I wake up, I could lose him."

"Oh, honey he's not perfect. The diabetes almost ruined him, he had to go through a lot." I almost choked with my own saliva. Diabetes? "It was hard for him especially when they first found out, he was 13 then." Diabetes, and Nick didn't even tell me. I feel my heart pump faster in my chest, the room is spinning. I don't know what I feel right now, surprise? Shock? Fear? Anger? Pity? Or maybe all of those mixed up. I tried not to let my jaw drop.

"Diabetes?" I managed to choke out with a forced smile.

"Yes. The poor thing. I'm pretty sure, Nick told you already." she shrugged, oblivious that Nick has absolutely never told me about this before.

"Oh, yeah." I lied, nodding and tried to keep my smile.

"He's staying strong, living a normal life, it wasn't that much dangerous. The doctor said Nick just had to keep count and watch himself. So, technically, he's fine. No need to worry much." she said as she wrapped an arm around me and squeezed for comfort.

Maybe she saw the look on my face, even I wasn't sure of. Maybe she saw worry or fear and I couldn't help not to show it. The words that just trailed off her mouth almost seemed impossible but true at the same time. Nick was sick, he wasn't going to die, but he could. He kept this from me, why? He didn't want to drive me away? He didn't want to scare me or have me worried for him? I wasn't mad at Nick for telling me, I completely understand, but I don't want to hide the fact that I'm upset and a tad scared. I gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, uh, Aunt Jo? I'm gonna go.. upstairs. I got tired of our date and.. if you want dinner I think there's some in the fridge."

"Oh sure, honey. I'm fine, you go ahead.. Good night." she said and gave me a small kiss on the temple. She squeezed me one last time and I gave her a smile as I stood up. I ran up the stairs to find Nick just stepping out of his Mom's room.

"Hey, Miles. What's up? You had a talk with Aunt Jo?" he said with a grin. I wanted to slap it out of him. But I managed not to, I'm worried I might overreact.

"I found out some very surprising things.. wow, this night is full packed, isn't it?" I say softly and continued to walk to my room.

"Wait, what? Miley?" he follows me and I turn my body around quickly and faced him.

"You have Diabetes, and you didn't even bother telling me?" I just stared at him, waiting for an answer. His mouth hung open for a second then he finally spoke.

"I meant to tell you." he explained as he ran his fingers nervously through his curls. WRONG ANSWER.

"You had so many chances to tell me the past week." I shake my head and turned to walk to my room.

"I had to find the right time." he reasons out again and I snap my body back to his direction. _That was such a pathetic reason._

"Telling it to me when it's too late isn't a right time either." I defended.

"No. Miley you don't understand." he takes a few steps towards me. He gave me a stern look and I was taken aback from his action. "Do you think it's easy telling someone you have.. diabetes? I just didn't want you to worry like you are right now. I know how to take care of my health, I've been doing it for 5 years."

"That's.. not the point." I felt defeated like I wasn't supposed to be mad at him. But I couldn't help it. I had to say something to keep him off me for a little while and think this through. I stormed to my bedroom and opened the door violently.

"Miley!" I heard him call out before I slam the door shut.

No one in my life that I love, ever kept something this big from me. I knew it.. It was too perfect. I knew sometime all of this would be fucked up one way or another. And it did.. kind of. I knew I overreacted and I felt like I drove him away. I hated what I'm feeling. It was like he didn't trust me. Or he just cared too much for me and didn't want me to stress out like what I'm doing right now. I'm panicking when I'm not supposed to. The pillows and the sheets didn't make things feel any better. It's 4 in the morning and I have a huge headache. I didn't sleep, I couldn't. I didn't want to write anything down. I just want to get away and trying to sleep isn't helping at all.

I got off the bed and walked into the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and took a couple of aspirin. I realized I was still wearing the same clothes I wore on our date and obviously is now dry; now I'm afraid I might catch a cold. I took them off and shoved them in my empty hamper. I reeked of sweat and chlorine so I decided to take a quick shower. I changed into a new pair of pants and a sweatshirt. I didn't want to go back to bed, it'll only make me feel worse. If I wanted to get away from here, I really should. I grabbed my jacket and slowly headed downstairs. Lucky for me they were both still asleep. I walked to the living room, grabbed the keys and went out. I walked the empty streets of the village and the skies were still dark. The streetlights were still open and the breeze was piercing my face. I was thinking.. or maybe trying to think.

_Nick had the right to keep it from me._

_But it's like he didn't trust me._

_But what if you had something like that too, Miley?_

_It would be hard to tell him too, right?_

_Why didn't he just tell me right away?_

_You have to understand him._

_You love him._

_Say you're sorry._

_Don't make this hard, because it really isn't._

I was walking silently, not bothering to look at signs or wonder where this street is leading me. It was freezing, but I didn't care. I was breathing in the cold air, and calmed myself down. The skies were already getting brighter, from a pitch black to a dark blue. Maybe I should get back, I thought to myself. But my feet didn't want to yet, it's like it wanted to walk all the way back to California. I forced myself to stop and turn around. I read a street sign that said: _Cornwall St._. Cornwall? I got confused, I've never reached this part of their village. I didn't know where I was and I started to panic. Now I regret not reading the signs for the past 20 minutes. I decided to just try and follow my steps back. I reached a corner and got completely off guard. I bumped into a really huge guy—wait let me rephrase that—the really huge guy bumped into me, I stumbled and fell on my butt. The impact of his body was as painful as the fall.

"Ow! What the?" was all I could say.

"Oh my god. I'm so fucking sorry.. I—Miley?" he said as he looked at me in disbelief. My eyes adjusted in the dim and realized it was Liam.

"Liam? What the heck are you doing running around at 4 in the morning?" I questioned as he helped me up.

"Are you okay?" he asked and my brush off the dirt that stuck on my pants.

"I'm fine. My butt hurts." I sighed in exasperation and he lets out a chuckle. _This is not funny._

"What are you doing walking around alone at 4 in the morning? And what are you doing in this part of the village?" he asked, half- concerned half-amused. He was holding back a laugh and gave him a skeptic look.

"I asked you first." It was completely uncanny for a guy to run around a village he didn't even live in at 4 in the morning. _Shit Miley, what are you getting yourself into?_

"Well, I'm doing my morning jog." he grins as he pulls the sleeves of his gray varsity jacket up to his elbow.

"At 4? In the morning?" I narrowed my eyes. He shrugged and gave me smile. _Cute._

"We've all got some weirdness in us and technically it's past four already. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" he put his hands on his waist and waited for me to answer. I sighed and gave him shrug.

"Nothing. I'm just walking.. trying to think, I guess." I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed again.

"Think of what?" he narrowed his eyes and looked at me in the eye.

"Stuff." I stared right back at him without giving any sort of emotion away. He lets out another chuckle.

"Well that answered my question.." he said.

"You live in another village. How the heck did you get here?" I decided to interrogate him, hoping nothing strange comes out of his mouth.

"My dad lives here. See when my parents got divorced they thought it would be better if they just lived near each other for my sake." _Okay that was strange. But what if it's true?_

"Well that seems like a great idea." I said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it. Yeah, my dad lives a couple blocks from here." he said as he pointed behind him and I continued to question him.

"Why would you jog at a time like this? It's freezing and everybody's still sleeping."

"That's the beauty of it. It's quiet, more time to concentrate and get seriously fit for those baseball scholarships. Plus, I don't usually _run_ into people." he replied as he pointed at me.

"There's a first time for everything as they say." I shrugged and we both let out a small laugh. "Why aren't you staying at your Mom's?"

"Let's just say that.. some things are easier to take when you're away from it." he said and it made me think of why I was walking at this time in the first place. My smile slowly faded.

"Sure is." I sighed as I crossed my arms.

"So, I guess we're cool now. I really didn't mean to run into you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I nodded and forced a small smile.

"Great. I better get going though. I need to wake up my dad for work. He hates it when the alarm wakes him." he laughed and I tried to keep the small smile before I really break down. I didn't want him to leave yet. I really needed someone to talk to and someone to get back to Nick's house.

"Sure." I let out. _But I really don't want to bother him. We're not even friends.. kind of._

"See you, M." he waved as he jogged away.

"See you." I waved back. I hesitated but I really need to do it or I'll be stuck in this part of their village forever, so I called out for him. "Hey, Liam.." he immediately stopped and turned around.

"Yeah?" he smiled. I kinda liked it when he smiles. It's friendly and sweet, kinda makes you think that you're not alone.

"I don't know where to go. I kind of got.. lost." I looked down and looked up shyly to see his expression. He gave me a sympathetic smile and walked back to me.

"C'mon, let's take you home." he said softly as he wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders. I didn't move away or flinch, maybe I was too tired or too sad to even care.

He walked me safely back to Nick's house. He put his arm down eventually as we walked. Turns out I ended up 6 blocks away from the mansion. Even I don't believe it. Liam was chatty, he asked me what was really the reason I was walking around at a crazy time. I didn't want to tell him but I did anyway. He said the situation was "understandable" and told me Nick's story during high school. Turns out Liam was a really nice kid, he looked a like a protective friend and has that bad boy in him too. He told me that Nick wasn't really open about his problems, he'd rather keep it to himself than share it to anybody else, especially about his diabetes. And now I feel bad for acting like that without even thinking about it thoroughly. Liam cheered me up a little, comforted me and told me everything's going to be okay; he's really sweet. Eventually he asked a few things about me, then I had to ask a couple of questions about him too, including why his parents were separated.

"..but if you don't want to tell me, it's perfectly fine."

"Well, both my parents found someone else and so here I am torn between the two of them, making me choose sides and shit. But whatever, you know? Life sucks and we just need to go along with it or else it'll all be harder." he said and kicked a small rock on his way. I nodded and we walked in silence after that. Liam and I were different. His family is a wreck, my parents love me too much, he doesn't care about what his future holds, and I'm stressing about pursuing a career that I'm not even sure would make money. _C'est la vie_.

We reached Nick's house before the sun rose and thank God for that. If they woke up and found out I wasn't in my room I'm probably never going to go out until the end of summer.

"Thanks for walking me home. I guess that kinda makes it up for making me fall on my butt." I smiled as I played with my fingers.

"I guess it does." he nodded and lets out a light chuckle. I walked down the entryway and turned back around, only to see him still standing there.

"I'll see you.." I said.

"You will." he winked and I took it as a joke. I let out a small laugh.

"Bye Liam." I whispered and turned around. I walked along the pathway to the house and heard Liam's footsteps fading away. I stared at the big shiny wooden door, having second thoughts about coming in. My eyes traveled around the house, their front yard and back again to the door. I breathe in the cool air and let it out. _It's no big deal Miley, just go in and do it. _I've thought about apologizing to Nick from what happened last night, maybe it's the right thing to do?

I unlocked the door and went inside, expecting to see Aunt Jo. Lucky for me, the house was still quiet and dark like it should be. I place the keys back to where I picked them up and slowly climbed up the staircase. Walking on the hallway gave me the creeps especially now that it's dark, and the only thing I could hear was my breathing. I stopped to face Nick's door.

_He's in there sleeping. _

_Maybe this can wait in the morning. _

_No, just go in there and apologize! _

_But he's sleeping, shut up conscience. _

_Just knock on the fucking door! _

_Okay, okay! _

Did I just really have an argument with myself? I knocked softly on the wooden door and waited. _Maybe he didn't hear it, knock harder!_ I tried to resist, but I knocked harder anyway and still got no answer.I put my hand on the knob and turned it. To my surprise, it wasn't locked. Of course. Predictable. Why didn't I think of that earlier? I slowly push the door in and found Nick sleeping with his stomach flat on his bed.

His arms were stretched out like he was flying and his face was turned to the side. I giggled softly as I closed the door. I looked around the dark blue painted walls, covered with band posters and frames of his photographs. I walked further inside the room and found his work table scattered with Polaroids and his cameras laying around. I picked up the Nikon and turned it on. I faced Nick's bed and took a photo of him. The flash must've startled him because he moaned that only caused me to giggle more. I place the camera back down and climbed on the side of the bed where his face was showing. I went under the sheets and raised his arm so I could go under it. Then I realized he was shirtless, his warmth was radiating on my skin. I moved closer to his body and snuggled into him. He moved his arm closer to my body and hugged it. He adjusted himself, drawing his other arm back to his body and faced me completely. I knew he was awake, I knew he felt I was here and it made me smile. We felt each other's heartbeats for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that." I whispered in his chest. I wasn't really waiting for a reply, but he did anyway.

"I'm sorry too. I should've told you sooner." he replied in a hush tone and I pull my head back to kiss his chin. He opened his eyes and stared right into me. "I love you."

"Love you too." I gave him a small smile and he pulled me closer, if it were still possible.

"No." he said.

"Yes." I defended.

* * *

><p>"No, they're not." he reasoned out and I sink my hands into the pop corn and scooped out a handful.<p>

"They're vampires just with really huge teeth and talons." I picked up a few pieces from my palm and put the handful of popcorn in my mouth anyway. Nick gave me a look and I continued chew. _I'm sorry, I don't eat popcorn like a lady._

"They're monsters, cannibals. Not specifically vampires." he pointed the remote at the television. We were arguing what kind of species the monsters are in the movie 30 Days of Night. I decided we should watch something gore rather than that ridiculous flying robot Nick calls Optimus Prime, I almost agreed for the sake of seeing Shia LaBeouf all manly. _Those are vampires though. Seriously, they are._

"Yes they are, weren't you listening?" I said after I swallowed.

"Vampires have shiny hair, a ridiculous wardrobe and fangs.. not shark teeth."

"But those are the stereotypes."

"There's not such thing a stereotype vampire."

"Well that movie invented one."

"What? No-"

I was about to but in and his phone suddenly beeped. I gave him a look and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He knitted his eyebrows together as he reads the message and let out an annoyed huff. I moved closer to find out what bothered him and peeked at his phone's screen but saw nothing at all.

"What's wrong? Is it Aunt D?" I asked as I watch his thumbs move over the pad.

"No, it's Liam. He wants us to go to Amber's tonight. And he wants you to come along."

"Is Amber his girlfriend?" I asked stupidly. He laughed.

"No. It's a restaurant name. It's technically kind of like a restaurant slash bar where live bands play."

"Oh. So? What are you so annoyed about?" I ate more popcorn.

"Tony got us a gig and we haven't been practicing a lot lately. We're going to screw this up." he puts his phone back into his pocket and sits back against the couch. I put my head on his shoulder.

"Aww, no you won't. I haven't seen you guys actually play, so tonight's the night to do it." I smiled at him. He sighed and looked at me.

"Promise me you'll lie even though we sound terrible." he raised an eyebrow.

"Promise." I grinned.

* * *

><p>The place was packed. It was very dim and the only light that makes us see is the ones on the stage and the strobe lights on the other side of the room for the dance floor. The music was loud and everyone was dancing. The stage is being set up by Liam and the rest of the band members. Nick walked up to them and started to help with the amplifiers. Liam exhaled as he finished with the drums and got down the stage. He approaches me and I give him a smile.<p>

"Glad you could make it." he said as he hugged me, his big strong arms wrapped around me.

"Yeah, I'm so excited. Finally hearing you guys play."

"We're going to kick ass."

"Surprise me."

They were amazing, not because my boyfriend is one of them but because they really did sound amazing. I didn't know Nick could be that great of a singer and a guitarist. They were awesome, the audience loved them and I was smiling the entire performance.

"Now, this song, I'd like to dedicate to the beautiful, Miley. I love you beautiful." Nick said before singing 'Whoever You Are' by Brighten which he knew was my favorite song. I shot the whole thing, for keepsake purposes. I had the urge to run up the stage and kiss him but I didn't want to make a scene and waited for them to finish. The song he dedicated for me were their last one. He goes down the stage and I rush to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"That was the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me." I told him and he lifts me off the floor. His touch made my spine tingle. I've never wanted to be so close to anyone before. I could feel his warmth against my skin, his breath against my neck. On the corner of my eye, I saw Liam staring. When I looked at him, he immediately looked away and I turned my attention back to Nick.

"I love you, Mi." he whispered in my ear as he set me down on one of the couches against the wall.

"I love you too, you dimwit." I joked as I attacked his face with kisses. He laughed as I teased him, not kissing his lips yet. He got frustrated and held my face in his hands. I giggled through the kiss and I heard Liam call out for Nick. We stopped kissing but I was still giggling.

"C'mon, let's celebrate. Everyone loved us, Blake is having a house party. Let's go before people start asking for our autographs." he joked. Nick held my hand as we stood up and left Amber.

The band and I drove to Blake's house which was even bigger than Nick's. Do all of Nick's friends have huge houses? As we stepped inside a couple of girls introduced themselves as Tony and Mikey's girlfriends. I thought of Lily knowing who in the band was still single. Lucky for her Blake is not yet taken. Now I can't wait until I send these photos to her. The black haired chubby girl's name was Demi and the blonde and tall one was Ashley. The house didn't have as many people as there were in Liam's party. A small get together, I thought, for the band's full house success.

"Hey, let's go somewhere." Nick whispered in my ear that immediately sent tingles down my spine. He just loves doing that. I looked at him, confused.

"Where?" I asked, with a nervous laugh.

"Just come." he said as he took my hand and walked to their backyard. We laid down on the grass. No one was outside, everyone was drinking inside having fun. I could hear the music being muffled by the double doors that separated us from the house. The silence was relaxing, but my ears suddenly rang, it must be from hearing loud music then hearing nothing after. My head was resting on his arm, he was lying on his back and I was lying on my side, watching his chest rise up and down.

"Why did you want to go here?"

"For some quiet. And to stop myself from drinking." we laughed. I drew invisible circles and lines on his chest as I listened to the crickets.

"Thanks for the song." I said softly and he smiled. I kissed his chin and he looked down at me. He plants a soft kiss on my lips and I smile as I looked into his brown eyes. One of the door opens and Demi pops her head out as she grinned.

"Hey guys, Mikey doesn't want to start spin the bottle yet until you guys join. C'mon." she said in a perky tone and I looked at Nick for approval. He propped himself up with his elbows and nodded at Demi.

"We'll be right there." he said and Demi squealed.

We gathered in a circle, 10 of us in total, the others were just watching or were dancing on the other side of the house. The rules were either kiss the person you point the bottle to (the one who gets pointed by the bottle shouldn't interfere with the spinner's decisions), or drink three shots of tequila without the salt and the lime. I almost didn't want to join since I've never drank tequila before. But Nick told me it would be fun, so I joined anyway.

Demi was the first one to spin the bottle. The glass bottle spun a few times and it came to a stop, pointing at Nick. Everyone in the circle laughed but I didn't find it amusing, I forced a smile. Demi gives me a look.

"I'm taking the tequila." she winked at me and someone gave her a small glass of tequila. She shot it down her throat and did it two more times as everyone hooted. I managed to laugh as she made faces between shots. "Damn, you're going to have to thank me later Miley." she said as she laughed.

Nick spun the bottle and it lands on Liam. I put my hands on my mouth and laughed. Everyone else in the circle laughed with me.

"Oh..my..god." I managed to let out between laughs.

"You're not gay are you, Grey?" Blake teased as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"Screw you, Knight." Nick laughed as he drank the 3 shots with ease. I looked at him with my mouth open but I tried to keep the smile on my face. He has diabetes, type 1. You're not supposed to drink that much in less than a minute. Suddenly, I got worried. He just shrugged and leaned in to kiss me. As I pulled away I saw Liam, staring yet again, only this time he didn't look away. We watched Liam as he spun the bottle. The bottle turns, and slowly comes to a stop, pointing right at me. Nick lets go of my hand and somehow that tells me that Liam is going to kiss me.

**Author's Note: **_Any predictions on what will happen next? (: __Sorry for inconstant tenses, I feel like butt. I'm writing this at midnight and I've been writing this chapter for six hours. That's how much I love you guys. (: xo (c) bows and arrows_


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